Is Fayette County, Tennessee growing faster than Shelby County?

Yes. The U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 population estimates put Fayette County, Tennessee at 45,071 residents as of July 1, 2025, up 8.0 percent from the April 2020 estimates base, while Shelby County, Tennessee was estimated at 910,226, down 2.1 percent over the same period. Fayette County recorded 356 building permits in 2025 against Shelby County's 1,230, so on a per-capita basis the smaller county is building at several times Shelby's pace. Oakland, TN, on the Highway 64 corridor, is the county's largest town.

How does property tax on a rental in Oakland, TN compare with Memphis?

Tennessee assesses residential property at 25 percent of appraised value, so a house appraised at 340,000 dollars carries an assessed value of 85,000 dollars. The Fayette County, Tennessee Trustee's published county rate is 0.9310 dollars per 100 dollars of assessed value, about 791 dollars a year, and the Town of Oakland's municipal levy adopted for fiscal 2026 is roughly 63 cents, about 536 dollars more, for a combined bill near 1,327 dollars. The same appraised value inside Memphis, in Shelby County, Tennessee, pays the county rate of 2.702382 plus the city rate of 2.58081, about 4,491 dollars. In Germantown, TN the combined figure is about 3,812 dollars. Rates are set each July and a specific parcel's bill can differ, so verify with the county trustee before underwriting.

Does Tennessee's Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act apply in Fayette County?

No. Tennessee Code Annotated section 66-28-102 limits the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to counties with a population above 75,000 in the 2010 federal census or any later census. Shelby County, Tennessee qualifies. Fayette County, Tennessee counted 41,990 residents in the 2020 census and does not, so URLTA provisions such as the 30-day security-deposit return timeline do not apply there by statute. In Fayette County the written lease has to carry the terms the statute supplies in Shelby County. This is general information, not legal advice; consult a Tennessee attorney about a specific lease.

Markets & Strategy · September 11, 2026

The Growth Is East of the County Line: What Fayette County, Tennessee Actually Offers a Memphis Rental Investor

Q: Which school district serves a rental in Eads, Tennessee?

It depends on the county line, not the mailing address. Eads is unincorporated and its 38028 ZIP code straddles Shelby County and Fayette County, Tennessee. The Fayette County side is zoned to Fayette County Public Schools. The Shelby County side defaults to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, with some addresses served by Arlington Community Schools. No part of Eads is served by Collierville Schools, which covers the town limits of Collierville, TN only. Confirm the parcel's county on the assessor's records before pricing a rental on its school zone.

The Census Bureau's July 2025 estimates put Shelby County, Tennessee at 910,226 people, down 2.1% since 2020. Next door, Fayette County, Tennessee stood at 45,071, up 8.0%. Investors have noticed, and the Highway 64 corridor through Oakland, TN is where a lot of that growth is landing. Before you follow it east, here is what the numbers, the tax bill and the statute book actually say about owning a rental across the county line.

Two counties, side by side

Everything in this section comes from the Census Bureau's QuickFacts for Fayette County, Tennessee and the matching page for Shelby County, Tennessee. The population figures are Vintage 2025 estimates; the housing figures are 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year averages, which lag the market by a couple of years and should be read as a floor, not a current comp.

Ownership. Fayette County's owner-occupied rate is 81.4%. Shelby County's is 54.1%. That is the single most important number in this article. Roughly one in five Fayette households rents, against nearly one in two in Shelby. The renter pool is thin, which cuts both ways: less competition from other landlords, but a smaller bench of applicants every time a unit turns.

Rent and value. Median gross rent in Fayette County was $902 against $1,232 in Shelby County, while the median owner-occupied home was worth $340,800 in Fayette against $249,100 in Shelby. Higher prices and lower median rent produce a worse rent-to-price ratio on the county median. The median is not the deal, but if you are underwriting a Fayette County purchase to the same yield you get in Memphis, the numbers will fight you.

Supply and commute. Fayette County issued 356 residential building permits in 2025; Shelby County, with twenty times the population, issued 1,230. Mean travel time to work is 34.1 minutes in Fayette against 22.3 in Shelby, which tells you who the renter is: a Shelby County wage earner who chose more house for the drive. Fayette's median household income of $88,456 against Shelby's $63,767 says the same thing.

Eighty-one percent owner-occupancy is not a rental market with a shortage of landlords. It is a rental market with a shortage of renters. Price for that.

The tax bill, worked

Tennessee assesses residential property at 25% of appraised value, and rates are stated per $100 of assessed value. Take a house appraised at $340,000, close to the Fayette County median. Assessed value is $85,000.

The Fayette County Trustee publishes a county rate of $0.9310, which produces a county bill of about $791. Inside the Town of Oakland, TN, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopted a municipal levy of roughly 63 cents for fiscal 2026, up from about 45 cents, which adds about $536. Combined, call it $1,327 a year. Somerville, Rossville and Piperton each set their own town rate; unincorporated Fayette County pays the county rate alone.

Now put the same $340,000 appraisal inside Shelby County. The 2026 county rate is 2.702382. Add the Memphis city rate of 2.58081 and the combined 5.283192 produces about $4,491. In Germantown, TN the city rate is 1.7825, for a combined bill near $3,812. Unincorporated Shelby County pays the county rate only, about $2,297, plus the annual county fire fee tiered by square footage. Against Memphis, an Oakland address on the same appraisal saves roughly $3,160 a year, or about $263 a month. That is where a lower rent-to-price ratio can get some of its ground back. Rates in both counties are set each July, and a specific parcel's bill can differ; verify with the trustee before you underwrite.

The statute that stops at the county line

Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 applies the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act only in counties with a population above 75,000 in the 2010 federal census or any later census. Shelby County is in. Fayette County, at 41,990 in the 2020 census, is out, and the 8% growth since then does not come close to changing that.

The practical consequence is that the provisions Shelby County landlords treat as background law are not background law in Fayette County. The requirement to return a security deposit within 30 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant provides a written forwarding address, the notice and entry rules, the repair obligations: in Fayette County, the lease has to carry those terms itself, because the statute is not there to fill the gaps. That is a drafting issue, not a reason to avoid the county, but a lease written for a Memphis duplex and reused in Somerville is a lease with holes in it. A written forwarding-address and deposit-accounting clause is the minimum. This is general information, not legal advice; have a Tennessee attorney review the form you use across the line.

The Eads line

Eads, TN is unincorporated and its 38028 ZIP straddles the two counties. The Fayette side is zoned to Fayette County Public Schools. The Shelby side defaults to Memphis-Shelby County Schools, with some addresses in Arlington Community Schools. None of it is Collierville Schools, which serves the town limits of Collierville, TN and nothing beyond them. A listing that says "Eads" tells you nothing about the district or the tax rate until you have the parcel's county from the assessor. The same discipline applies to Arlington and Lakeland in northeast Shelby County, where the county line is a few minutes' drive away and the two sides of it are underwritten differently.

Financing, priced honestly

Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey release dated September 10, 2026 put the 30-year fixed at 6.76%, up from 6.71% the week before and 6.35% a year earlier. That benchmark is a conforming purchase loan for an owner-occupant with 20% down and excellent credit. An investor buying a Fayette County rental prices above it, on rate and on down payment, and at a $340,000 purchase price the spread between a 6.76% quote and a realistic investor quote is a meaningful line in the cash-flow model. Run it before you fall for the tax savings.

A note on how Matt is paid: Homefront is the property-management company. Matt is also a licensed REALTOR® with Reid Realtors, LLC, and if you purchase a Fayette County or Shelby County property through him he earns a commission on that sale, separate from any management fee. Neither service requires the other.

Whether to go east

Fayette County, Tennessee is a real growth story with a real tax advantage and a thin renter pool that punishes anyone who overpays. The purchase that works there is priced on Fayette rents, not Shelby rents; carries a lease drafted for a county without URLTA; sits on a parcel whose county and school district you confirmed on the assessor's record rather than the listing; and clears the rate an investor actually gets, not the one in the headline. Our team manages long-term rentals across Shelby County and into the Fayette County side of the line. Management fees never exceed 10% of monthly rent, with a customized schedule by portfolio size and no hidden charges; tenant screening is paid by the applicant, and under our lease tenants are responsible for legal fees arising from a breach. The detail is in our fee guide. Send us the address, on either side of the county line, and we will tell you what it rents for.

Sources & further reading: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Fayette County, Tennessee (Vintage 2025 estimates; ACS 2020–2024), U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Shelby County, Tennessee, Fayette County, TN Trustee — Calculating Property Taxes (county rate $0.9310), CitizenPortal — Oakland, TN Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopts Ordinance 25-06 setting the FY2026 municipal levy at roughly 63 cents (June 2025 meeting summary), Shelby County Trustee — Shelby County Tax Rates, Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-102 — Application of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, release dated September 10, 2026. Tax rates verified September 2026; Tennessee counties and towns set rates each July, and the Oakland figure is as reported from the adopted ordinance rather than a published rate card. This article is general information about property operations, local taxation and state law, not legal, tax or investment advice; confirm figures for a specific parcel with the county trustee and assessor and consult a Tennessee attorney or CPA.