The Nashville area's workforce diversity advantage is seen through the strong international presence and ties, as well as the range of occupations and industries whose diversity draws highly skilled students and graduates from around the world, seeking out Nashville as their home and career.
Nashville’s leading economic sectors - health care, tourism, music, automotive industry and publishing - all are evidence of the creative talent and diversity of people that make these Nashville area business clusters world leaders.
Nashville is home to more than 100,000 foreign-born residents and is home to a significant international population. It has become of one the most diverse cities in the South in particular, and in the nation overall, as a new gateway for world cultures. Nashville is home to a large Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and South and Southeast Asian population. The largest Kurdish community in the world outside the Middle East lives in Nashville. Laotian, Central African, Indian, Bosnian, and Arab communities are prominent with many cultural institutions, shopping areas, and restaurants.
- More than 4,000 students and scholars from around the world are found in 18 colleges and universities
- Tennessee is home to more than 10% of all Japanese investment in the US. Nashville has a distinguished and long history of welcoming the world – as businesses and as individuals. For a quarter century, Nashville has been a focal point of international, as well as domestic, business relocation
- Nashville is increasingly attractive to young workers, international population and mobile
households - Nashville’s diversity is a mainstay of its success with prestigious leaders, institutions and communities. Nashville’s African-American heritage is well-recognized through institutions such as Fisk University, historically black Tennessee State University and the new $30 million Museum of African-American Music, Art and Culture.
Population Diversity - Nashville MSA
| Total | 1,518,971 |
| | White alone | 1,205,828 |
| | Black or African American alone | 231,510 |
| | American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 4,027 |
| | Asian alone | 31,498 |
| | Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone | 1,098 |
| | Some other race alone | 25,350 |
| | Two or more races: | 19,660 |
| | Two races including some other race | 2,816 |
| | Two races excluding some other race, and three or more races | 16,844 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006-2008 American Community Survey
For more data and research on Nashville's population advantages, view our complete demographics profile.