Tennessee ranks #25 among US states for total patents filed in 2020, with 3,734 patents from 2,204 inventors across 205 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 2020
| Rank | City | Patents | Inventors |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Knoxville, TN | 600 | 396 |
| #2 | Nashville, TN | 528 | 329 |
| #3 | Memphis, TN | 405 | 199 |
| #4 | Germantown, TN | 178 | 72 |
| #5 | Collierville, TN | 127 | 59 |
| #6 | Oak Ridge, TN | 126 | 81 |
| #7 | Kingsport, TN | 124 | 71 |
| #8 | Brentwood, TN | 117 | 59 |
| #9 | Franklin, TN | 114 | 73 |
| #10 | Cordova, TN | 80 | 37 |
| #11 | Chattanooga, TN | 59 | 45 |
| #12 | Johnson City, TN | 57 | 30 |
| #13 | Murfreesboro, TN | 49 | 32 |
| #14 | Cookeville, TN | 39 | 31 |
| #15 | Jonesborough, TN | 35 | 14 |
| #16 | Hendersonville, TN | 33 | 22 |
| #17 | Arlington, TN | 29 | 9 |
| #18 | Cleveland, TN | 29 | 18 |
| #19 | Maryville, TN | 29 | 17 |
| #20 | Nolensville, TN | 28 | 15 |
| #21 | Jackson, TN | 28 | 20 |
| #22 | Signal Mountain, TN | 27 | 8 |
| #23 | Elder Mountain, TN | 26 | 15 |
| #24 | Lakeland, TN | 25 | 9 |
| #25 | Halls, TN | 23 | 12 |