Tennessee's top export is not whiskey or country music, it's this

Whiskey and country music are Tennessee's two most culturally defining industries, but neither is the state's top exports. Medical devices are.

According to technology publisher Visual Capitalist, Tennessee joined Minnesota among the only states where medical devices were among the largest exports in 2025.

While many Tennesseans have likely heard the names Jack Daniels, Warner Records, George Dickel and Big Machine Records, the names Smith & Nephew, Medtronic and Stryker are certainly not as high profile in cultural relevance. Though, in the medical field, they are titans of industry.

Here's what you need to know about Tennessee's leading export and the companies that make it.

Ranging from foundational items such as bandages to advanced technologies like imaging machines, medical devices is the general term for the tools, machines, implants and supplies used in healthcare.

The U.S. medical device market was valued at $103 billion in 2023 and supports nearly 2 million jobs across the country.

Smith & Nephew, Medtronic and Stryker anchor Tennessee's medical-device industry. All based in the Memphis region, the three companies have turned West Tennessee into one of the country's most important exporters of medical technology.

None of these corporations are headquartered in Tennessee, but all three have major manufacturing operations in the region. The collective worth of these three companies is roughly $22 billion, according to Companies Market Cap. In the Memphis area alone, the medical device industry has created about 18,000 jobs, says the Greater Memphis Medical Device Council.

According to World's Top Exports, Tennessee exported a total of $37.7 billion in total goods in 2025. Medical device exports made up 7.1% of that total, as Tennessee exported $2.7 billion worth of medical devices that year.

In 2024, the figure was nearly two-thirds more, with Tennessee exporting more than $4.5 billion in medical devices, says the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development's website.

Tennessee is the No. 1 state in the southeast for medical device exports and No. 3 in the nation. Other leaders in the industry include Minnesota, California, Indiana and Massachusetts.

According to World's Top Exports, these were Tennessee's other top exports in 2025.

Smartphones ($2.1 Billion)

Digital processing units ($1.9 Billion)

Civilian aircraft, engines or other aircraft parts ($1.1 Billion)

Mid-sized automobiles ($1 Billion)

Cotton ($703.3 Million)

Whiskey ($695 Million)

Beyond healthcare, medical device manufacturing, distilling and entertainment, Tennessee generates billions of dollars of revenue a year from the following industries:

Aerospace & Defense

Automotive Manufacturing

Chemicals

Ceramics

Distribution & Logistics

Nuclear energy

Finance & Tech

Peter Burditt covers trending news and service journalism for The Tennessean. Contact him at PBurditt@nashvill.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Forget whiskey and country music, this is Tennessee's top export