Murfreesboro is a city in, and county seat of, Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 165,430 according to the 2023 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropolitan area of Middle Tennessee, 34 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. It served as the state capital from 1818 to 1826. Today, it is the largest suburb of Nashville and the sixth-most populous city in Tennessee.