Franklin, Tennessee is in Williamson County, and it's the county seat. If you searched "Franklin County, TN" trying to find us, you're about 80 miles off. That's a different place, down near the Alabama line, with its courthouse in Winchester.
I get this question more than you'd think, usually from someone relocating who has two browser tabs open and can't tell which Franklin is which. Here's the short version, and then the parts that actually matter when you're buying or selling here.
Two Franklins, one Ben
Tennessee has a city named Franklin and a county named Franklin, and they have nothing to do with each other except the man they're named for. Franklin County was established in 1807, named for Benjamin Franklin, county seat Winchester. By road it's about 80 miles from our Public Square.
Our Franklin is the city. It sits in Williamson County, south of Nashville, and it has been the county seat since the beginning. If a listing says Franklin, TN 37064, 37067 or 37069, it's here. 37065 and 37068 are Franklin too.
Born on the same day
Here's the fact I like to tell people on Public Square. Williamson County and the city of Franklin were created together, by the Tennessee General Assembly, on October 26, 1799. The county was carved out of Davidson County and named for Dr. Hugh Williamson, a North Carolina doctor, Revolutionary patriot and statesman. The next year Abram Maury laid out the town on 109 acres and named it for Benjamin Franklin.
So the county and the city are twins. The historic courthouse the county built in 1858 still stands at 305 Public Square, and my office is at 231 Public Square, so I walk past it most days.
Why the county matters more here than most places
When you buy a house, the county decides a lot of what happens next. Your deed gets recorded with the county. You pay county property tax, and if the house is inside Franklin city limits, you pay a City of Franklin property tax on top of it. And the county line decides your school district.
That last one has a twist in Franklin. Kindergarten through eighth grade for most of the city is the Franklin Special District, the eight-school district most people still call FSSD (it rebranded in 2024). It was the first special school district in Tennessee, and it levies its own school tax. Every Franklin high school is Williamson County Schools. Two districts, one city. I check the zoning on every house I show here, because the map does not follow the city limits the way people assume.
Who else is in Williamson County
Williamson County covers 584 square miles and had 247,726 people at the 2020 census. Franklin is the biggest city in it, 83,454 people in 2020 and an estimated 89,142 in 2024. The other cities are Brentwood, Fairview and Spring Hill, and the towns are Nolensville and Thompson's Station.
Spring Hill is the one that trips people up, because it straddles the Williamson and Maury county line. Same city, two counties, two tax rates, two school systems. I'll cover that one on its own.
Getting to Nashville
I-65 runs along the east side of Franklin with four exits, and the Capitol is about 22 road miles from downtown. Highway 96 crosses the city east to west and ties Main Street to the interstate, which is the route most of downtown takes to get there.
The rest of it
If you're weighing Franklin, the county is only the first question. The neighborhoods, the commutes, the parks and the school zoning are all in my Franklin, TN real estate guide:
I've been selling homes since 2013, I live and work in Williamson County, and I answer my own phone. If you're buying or selling in Franklin, DM, text, or call me at 615-392-1186.
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