With a long history in music and home to numerous attractions, Nashville earns millions of dollars each year through music production and tourism. In 2010, Nashville was the second largest producer of music in America, behind New York City. According to reports from Belmont University and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the music industry in Nashville has a total economic impact of $6.38 billion annually and employs about 54,000 people in the Nashville area.
As large as the music industry is in Nashville, it is not the city's main industry. The health-care industry in Nashville earns more than $18 billion each year and is responsible for more than 90,000 jobs in the Nashville area. Other major employers include billion-dollar corporations, such as Dell, Dollar General, Wal-Mart and HCA Inc.
Nashville features more than 100 parks, public gardens, nature centers and public lakes. Metro Parks and Recreation manages over 10,000 acres of urban parkland for citizens to enjoy. Edwin and Percy Warner Park, the largest city-administered park in Tennessee, features 2,684 acres, miles of hiking trails, an equestrian center and horse trails, a golf course and several athletic fields. In contrast, Beaman Park is only 1,500 acres and dominated by forest land and hiking trails. Visitors frequently spot deer, bobcat, fox, flying squirrels and the occasional snake.
Nashville attracts thousands of tourists each year. The Grand Ole Opry is the world's longest-running live radio show. A shopping mall called Opry Mills feature more than 200 stores. The Country Music Festival attracts thousands of people each year as country stars come to Nashville to perform, sign autographs and interact with fans.
Nashville is home to 21 accredited four-year universities, with two earning distinctions from "U.S. News and World Report." In 2011, six Vanderbilt University departments -- education, law, medicine, nursing, engineering and business -- made the "U.S. News and World Report" list for top schools of the year. In the same year, "U.S. News and World Report" ranked Belmont University fifth among "Best Universities" in the South in the master's category.
