As Knox County anticipates 75,160 new residents by 2040, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville will temporarily increase the local population by nearly half that number as students return for the fall semester.
At a time when Knoxville ranks among the nation's top moving destinations, the university continues to build its enrollment while bringing tens of thousands of students to the city each academic year.
"It is palpable when the students come back to campus," said Don Bruce, economic professor and director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at UT. "It is an entirely different ecosystem."
The university projects 42,600 students will take classes in the fall 2026 semester beginning Aug. 17 and is pushing to enroll students from
in-state high schools, especially in Knox County. Meanwhile, the university's plans to enroll 55,000 students by 2030 would include 14,000 online students as UT expands its virtual learning options.
With Knox County home to 478,971 residents, according to 2020 census data, here's how much the population really changes with UT back in session and what it means for the local economy.
Here's how much Knoxville's population grows with Tennessee students
The estimated 42,600 students is a preliminary figure. A more precise estimate will be released once the semester begins, and the actual number will be finalized on the 14th day of classes.
In the meantime, we can look at last year's enrollment data for the fall semester to see how much Knoxville's population spiked when students returned.
- UT enrolled 40,421 students in the fall 2025 semester.
- Not counting online students, in-person enrollment was 37,028 students.
- Of those in-person students, 6,604 are from Knox County.
This means 30,424 students came from outside of Knox County to study in Knoxville campus last fall, according to UT's data dashboards. The data shows 16,134 students came from other parts of Tennessee, while 12,853 students came from out of state and 1,436 were international.
How population spike from UT students boosts Knoxville economy
These 30,000 students arrive on campus in August, and a majority stick around through May of the following year. During this time, they contribute to the local economy by buying groceries, attending events, frequenting bars and restaurants, and living in real estate.
"That's all money that goes into somebody else's pocket," Bruce said. "That spending becomes income for all of those people, and the jobs and income are just massive. The ripple effect that goes on and on and on as those dollars get spent and re-spent, it's really, really significant."
Several blocks of Cumberland Avenue have been transformed into off-campus student housing to accommodate UT's growing population, and the economic effect is spread throughout the county. Residents might feel like they're on campus even when they're really downtown, Bruce said, "because the whole city becomes a big orange zoo" when classes resume.
"When there's tens of thousands of students on every crosswalk at every minute of every day, the impact of the student presence is absolutely palpable," Bruce said. "And you can just go up and down the Strip and see that any given day. Talk to the business owners near campus, and they would not be there were it not for the student traffic."
Some traffic congestion is to be expected the first few weeks of the semester as students figure out where to park and how to navigate campus. Traffic jams tends to wind down in September, Bruce said, and that's when residents notice the lines between campus and downtown blurring.
"I don't want to think about Knoxville without UT," he said. "I don't think anybody really does. It's just such an important and outsized presence in terms of the local economy."
Keenan Thomas is the higher education reporter for Knox News. Email: keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: It's an 'entirely different ecosystem' with this many UT students back in town
