I recently attended Greater Nashville Realtors' quarterly Business Conditions Council, which brings together regional industry leaders to evaluate our local economy and share insights on the marketplace across Middle Tennessee.
At the meeting, Bishoy Mikhail, vice president of research for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, shared what the Chamber of Commerce is tracking as we enter the third quarter of 2026.
Much of the data reinforced what we continue to see across the region: a strong job market and continued population growth. But that growth also reinforces one of our biggest challenges: building enough housing to support it.
The region now sits at just under 2.2 million residents and added 26,313 people through net migration over the
last year, according to Chamber data. That translates to about 72 new residents a day, including more than 9,300 through international migration. Several counties continue to grow particularly quickly, including Wilson at 3.6%, Maury at 3.2% and Rutherford at 2.8%.
Our job market is also growing. The region started the year with just over 1.18 million jobs and finished June at approximately 1.21 million, a record high and an increase of about 2% in the first half of the year.
Importantly, that growth isn't limited to Nashville. Every county in the metro added jobs during the first half of 2026. The Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area's unemployment rate also remains low at 2.7%, compared with 3.5% statewide and 4.2% nationally.
These are encouraging signs for Middle Tennessee and help explain why people continue to choose our region as a place to live and work. But continued growth also means we need places for those people to live.
That's where one of the more concerning numbers from the Chamber's presentation comes in.
Through the first six months of 2026, the metro area issued 8,156 housing permits, compared with 9,996 during the same period last year. That's a decline of about 18%.
Housing affordability is already a significant challenge for our region. If our population and employment continue growing while housing production moves in the opposite direction, that challenge becomes even more difficult.
Greater Nashville has plenty of reasons to be optimistic about its economic future. People continue to move here, businesses continue to create jobs and unemployment remains low. Maintaining that momentum, however, requires making sure the people who power that economy can afford to live here.
Building enough housing to keep pace with our growth has to be part of that equation.
Jack Gaughan is president of Greater Nashville Realtors. A Realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors who subscribes to its strict code of ethics. You can reach Jack at 615-478-0970 or jack.gaughan@gmailcom.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville area sees more jobs, more residents, fewer housing permits
