Memphis is managed by a mayor and a 13-member City Council, which was created in 1819 and incorporated in 1826. Memphis is the most populous city in Tennessee and the 25th most populous city in the United States, with a land area of 324 square miles, making it one of the largest in the country.

Mayors are chosen for four-year periods with a two-term restriction. Jim Strickland, the current mayor, was elected in 2015. The mayor has the single contracting authority for the city and offers leadership and operational guidance to all divisions within the city government.

Members of the City Council are likewise elected to four-year terms with a two-term restriction. Seven members of the City Council are elected from single-member districts, and six members are elected from two super districts, each covering half of the city. At City Hall, council members meet 24 times a year, usually on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. The public is welcome to attend these meetings. The Council appoints a chair and vice chair, forms committees, exercises legislative authority, approves budgets, and sets the property tax rate.

The city also includes a judicial branch, with voters electing judges and the City Court Clerk to four-year terms. 

The City is governed by a mayor-council form of administration, which took effect on January 1, 1968, and replaced a commission type of government that had existed since 1909.