The American Community Survey (ACS) recently released aggregate data from 2020-2024, marking the fourth time that they have released aggregate data for five-year periods. With this new trove of data to study, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at how Memphis has changed in key statistical areas over the last 20 years.
In terms of education, Shelby County has seen an increase of more than 11% in the number of people with at least a high school diploma, while Memphis has seen just a 2.5% increase in the last 20 years. Statewide, however, that figure is close to 30.5%, suggesting that Shelby County—and especially Memphis—are lagging significantly behind peers across the state. In fact, parts of North and South Memphis have experienced significant decreases in the percentage of people with at least a high school diploma over the last 20 years.
Speaking of lagging behind the state, Memphis has seen a decrease of more than 17% in the number of children under the age of six with working parents. Shelby County decreased by more than 6%, while the State of Tennessee actually increased by more than 3%. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what this data means. It could be that families in Memphis and Shelby County are having fewer children (perhaps due to increasing costs), families are moving away from Memphis and Shelby County, or that fewer parents are able to find work in this economy.
In many ways, however, Memphis and Shelby County are on the rise. Since 2005, the county’s poverty rate has declined by more than 7%, while the city’s has declined by more than 12%. Statewide, that decline is less than 2%.
Additionally, Shelby County saw a decrease of 30% in the number of homeowners who are severely burdened by housing costs, while Memphis’ reduction has been close to 40%. Statewide, it has been less than a 6% decrease over the last 20 years.
Despite the issues and progress that this 20-year hindsight provides, it is important to keep our work in perspective. We see from this longitudinal data that the work is not impossible to achieve, as there is proven progress. But we also see that there is still much work to be done, and we are committed to doing that work with our partners on a systemic level.
