Tennessee ranks #25 among US states for total patents filed in 2017, with 3,241 patents from 1,989 inventors across 196 cities. On a per-capita basis that is 0.5 patents per 1,000 residents, a standard benchmark for comparing state-level R&D intensity.
Top Cities in Tennessee 2017
| Rank | City | Patents | Inventors |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Knoxville, TN | 499 | 326 |
| #2 | Nashville, TN | 361 | 231 |
| #3 | Memphis, TN | 361 | 202 |
| #4 | Germantown, TN | 145 | 71 |
| #5 | Kingsport, TN | 121 | 62 |
| #6 | Collierville, TN | 118 | 57 |
| #7 | Oak Ridge, TN | 108 | 64 |
| #8 | Franklin, TN | 104 | 69 |
| #9 | Cordova, TN | 94 | 48 |
| #10 | Brentwood, TN | 78 | 45 |
| #11 | Cookeville, TN | 75 | 37 |
| #12 | Chattanooga, TN | 65 | 48 |
| #13 | Murfreesboro, TN | 45 | 37 |
| #14 | Arlington, TN | 37 | 14 |
| #15 | Elder Mountain, TN | 36 | 19 |
| #16 | Johnson City, TN | 36 | 25 |
| #17 | Hendersonville, TN | 35 | 23 |
| #18 | Bartlett, TN | 35 | 28 |
| #19 | Lakeland, TN | 29 | 13 |
| #20 | Gallatin, TN | 26 | 16 |
| #21 | Loudon, TN | 24 | 16 |
| #22 | Spring Hill, TN | 24 | 18 |
| #23 | Soddy-Daisy, TN | 24 | 20 |
| #24 | Jackson, TN | 24 | 18 |
| #25 | Maryville, TN | 23 | 16 |