Tennessee
Buying Land in Tipton County, Tennessee
County seat Covington, about 39 miles north of Memphis, with the Mississippi River forming the county's entire western edge. Tipton County zones its unincorporated land under a Regional Zoning Resolution tied to an adopted Growth Boundary Map -- and that boundary matters more here than in most Tennessee counties, given real, ongoing growth pressure moving north out of Shelby County.
Zoning tied to an adopted Growth Boundary
Tipton County is one of the roughly half of Tennessee counties that has adopted countywide zoning for unincorporated territory, through a Regional Zoning Resolution administered alongside an adopted Tipton County Growth Boundary Map. That map divides the county into a Planned Growth Area (PGA) -- covering roughly 20 percent of the county's total land area and generally aimed at accommodating future development -- and a larger Rural Area (RA) intended to stay more agricultural and low-density. The zoning resolution's actual dimensional requirements, including minimum lot size and setbacks, differ by district and by which side of the PGA/RA line a given parcel sits on, which makes confirming your specific parcel's growth-boundary status a genuinely important early step, not a formality.
Tipton County covers roughly 469 square miles in the county's own reckoning, bordered by Lauderdale County to the north, Haywood County to the east, Shelby and Fayette counties to the south, and the Mississippi River along its entire western edge. Covington, the county seat, sits about 39 miles north of downtown Memphis -- close enough that a buyer evaluating land here should expect the zoning office to be actively managing where new growth is directed, rather than treating the whole county as uniformly rural.
Growth pressure moving north out of Memphis
Tipton County's defining land-market dynamic is its position immediately north of Shelby County and the broader Memphis metropolitan area. As Memphis-area development has pushed outward, Tipton has absorbed a real share of that exurban growth, particularly along the corridors connecting toward Memphis and around the county's larger towns. That pressure is exactly why the county's Growth Boundary Map and Planned Growth Area exist in the first place -- to direct where denser development is expected and where the county intends to preserve a more rural, lower-density character.
For a land buyer, that means location within the county matters more than it might in a county without this kind of explicit growth planning: land closer to Shelby County and the main highway corridors is more likely to see continued development interest (and stricter zoning review to match), while land further north and west toward the Mississippi River and the Lauderdale County line is more likely to stay agricultural and lower-priced, at least for the time being. Either way, confirm current PGA/RA status and any recent amendments directly with the county rather than relying on an older map.
Septic, water, and the rest of the state framework
Outside zoning and growth planning, Tipton County follows Tennessee's statewide septic framework described on our Tennessee state page: TDEC's Rule 0400-48-01 sets the technical standard for any parcel not on municipal sewer, with day-to-day permitting handled locally. This research pass did not turn up a specific department name or phone number strong enough to publish with confidence, so this page directs buyers to the county government's main line to be routed to whichever office currently handles septic site evaluations and construction permits.
Water rights, manufactured-home regulation, right-to-farm protection, and agritourism liability all follow Tennessee's statewide framework -- nothing found in Tipton County's own ordinances alters any of those. Given the county's location along the Mississippi River, any parcel in the river's floodplain should also get a specific flood-zone check as a matter of course, on top of the usual zoning and septic review.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Tipton County
Direct WebFetch to the county's own hosted documents was blocked by network egress restrictions in this research session, so several details reflect search-indexed content rather than a full verbatim site read -- confirm current staff, hours, fees, and current Growth Boundary Map status directly before relying on this page.
Planning & Zoning
Tipton County Planning and Zoning
Zoning district and Planned Growth Area / Rural Area status lookups, plus the current Regional Zoning Resolution.
Septic / Onsite Wastewater
Tipton County government (main line)
Being routed to the correct office for septic (subsurface sewage disposal) permitting -- this pass could not confirm a specific office name with confidence.
Recorder / Clerk / Land Records
Tipton County Register of Deeds
Recorded deeds, easements, and plats.
Want to know if this specific parcel actually works?
Tell us what you're looking at and we'll connect you with a local land specialist who can help you sanity-check it before you go further.
Get local guidanceSources
- Zoning Resolution, Tipton County, Tennessee — Tipton County, Tennessee (accessed 2026-09)
- Tipton County Regional Zoning Resolution -- Article V, Zoning Districts (Feb. 10, 2014) — Tipton County, Tennessee (accessed 2026-09)
- Tipton County Urban Growth Plan — Tipton County, Tennessee (accessed 2026-09)
- Tipton County Unincorporated, Tennessee Zoning Map — Zoneomics (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09