Tennessee ranks #25 among US states for total patents filed in 2025, with 3,383 patents from 1,835 inventors across 172 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 2025
| Rank | City | Patents | Inventors |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Knoxville, TN | 552 | 310 |
| #2 | Memphis, TN | 469 | 160 |
| #3 | Nashville, TN | 432 | 289 |
| #4 | Oak Ridge, TN | 166 | 125 |
| #5 | Germantown, TN | 161 | 60 |
| #6 | Franklin, TN | 96 | 68 |
| #7 | Elder Mountain, TN | 95 | 64 |
| #8 | Brentwood, TN | 81 | 47 |
| #9 | Collierville, TN | 77 | 29 |
| #10 | Cordova, TN | 62 | 29 |
| #11 | Murfreesboro, TN | 62 | 35 |
| #12 | Kingsport, TN | 59 | 38 |
| #13 | Arlington, TN | 44 | 16 |
| #14 | Cookeville, TN | 42 | 26 |
| #15 | Hendersonville, TN | 39 | 24 |
| #16 | Crossville, TN | 37 | 9 |
| #17 | Nolensville, TN | 33 | 17 |
| #18 | Lakeland, TN | 32 | 14 |
| #19 | Spring Hill, TN | 27 | 22 |
| #20 | Mount Juliet, TN | 25 | 14 |
| #21 | Dyersburg, TN | 25 | 2 |
| #22 | Johnson City, TN | 24 | 14 |
| #23 | Antioch, TN | 23 | 8 |
| #24 | Gallatin, TN | 23 | 14 |
| #25 | Bartlett, TN | 22 | 9 |