Memphis, TN (population: 662,989) has one hospitality school within its city limits. Southwest Tennessee Community College has a total student population of 13,016. It is the 4869th highest ranked school in the USA and the 132nd highest in the state of Tennessee (#1 is Vanderbilt University).
Hospitality students from Memphis schools who go on to become hospitality managers, caterers, event planners, wedding planners, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 334,310 people working as hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $19,190. Also, Food preparation and serving related employees make on average $20,880 per year and there are about 11,218,260 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Memphis-MS-AR area alone, there are 49,160 employed food preparation and serving related employees earning an average salary of $19,630. Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in this area earn $18,370/yr and there are 1,720 employed.
Memphis lies in Shelby county, which is one of the 26 counties in Tennessee. Overall, the Memphis-MS-AR area has 605,630 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $18.93/hr average worker wage, and a $39,380 average annual salary. Thus, about 2.836 out of every 1000 jobs in Memphis are held by hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop, and 81.170/1000 are held by food preparation and serving related employees.
After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Southwest Tennessee Community College ends up costing a student $4,338/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Memphis |
| Southaven | MS | 47,625 | 1 | 27.9087 | 11 | 9.7 miles |
| Bartlett | TN | 47,744 | 0 | - | 0 | 12.3 miles |
| Senatobia | MS | - | 1 | 17.4796 | 114 | 34.1 miles |
| Jonesboro | AR | 66,734 | 1 | 24.4204 | 8 | 62.3 miles |
| State University | AR | - | 1 | 57.8251 | 135 | 63.1 miles |