Germantown, TN

Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 41,333 at the 2020 census,^[4] and was estimated at 40,128 in 2024,^[3] making it the 23rd-most populous city in Tennessee. It was given a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence in 2019.^[7]

Germantown is an eastern suburb of Memphis. Germantown was founded in 1841 by mostly German emigrants.^{[citation needed]} The town hosts festivals year-round to celebrate their history and German culture. In the city center is the “Old Germantown” neighborhood, anchored by a railroad depot (a 1948 reproduction of the 1868 original) and railroad tracks that recall the community’s earliest days of development as an outpost along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

The city hosts many horse shows and competitions annually, most notably the Germantown Charity Horse Show in June. Other major annual events include the Germantown Festival, an arts and crafts fair, in early September.

Germantown has the lowest crime rate for any city its size in the State of Tennessee. Its police and fire departments have average emergency response time of five minutes (police just under 3 minutes & fire department 5.4 minutes).^[8] The parks and recreation department is nationally accredited. The Arbor Day Foundation has designated Germantown a “Tree City USA” for 33 consecutive years.^[9] In December 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the City of Germantown earned the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The city is one of only five municipalities nationwide to have ever received the award. Only 2.7% of Germantown citizens are below the poverty line.