In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County", or "Metro Nashville" for short.
Davidson County has the largest population in the 13-county Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. Nashville has always been the region's center of commerce, industry, transportation, and culture, but it did not become the capital of Tennessee until 1827 and did not gain permanent capital status until 1843.
2000 569,891 1990 510,784 1980 477,811 1970 448,003 1960 399,743 1950 321,758 1940 257,267 1930 222,854 1920 167,815 1910 149,478 1900 122,815
As of the census of 2000, there were 569,891 people, 237,405 households, and 138,169 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,135 people per square mile (438/km²). There were 252,977 housing units at an average density of 504 per square mile (194/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 66.99% White, 25.92% Black or African American, 0.29% Native American, 2.33% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 2.42% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. 4.58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
In 2005 the racial makeup of the county was 61.7% non-Hispanic white, 27.5% African-American, 6.6% Latino and 2.8% Asian.
In 2000 there were 237,405 households out of which 26.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.90% were married couples living together, 14.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.80% were non-families. 33.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the county, the population was spread out with 22.20% under the age of 18, 11.60% from 18 to 24, 34.00% from 25 to 44, 21.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $39,797, and the median income for a family was $49,317. Males had a median income of $33,844 versus $27,770 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,069. About 10.00% of families and 13.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.10% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.