The name of the city supposedly comes from an incident where, upon being asked "Whose land is this?" by a railroad surveyor, an early settler said "It's my land." Although this legend is often repeated, it is likely not true. It is believed the city was named after Milan, Italy. Milan is often referred to as "Bullet Town", due to the Milan Arsenal being located there, despite the fact that the Arsenal manufactures mortar shells and grenades, not bullets.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.1 square miles (20.8 km²), all of it land.
There were 3,170 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 15.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 79.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,806, and the median income for a family was $38,503. Males had a median income of $30,449 versus $21,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,255. About 9.4% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.6% of those under age 18 and 14.2% of those age 65 or over.
In the 1940s, Milan became the first city in the south to play Little League baseball.
Led by Dr. Robert P. Denney, a long-time dentist in Milan, Milan became the first city in Tennessee to fluoridate its drinking water, and for years its school children were regularly examined in a study of the effects of fluoridation by the University of Tennessee dental school.
There are three schools, all with modern facilities - Milan High School (which contains the Milan Vo-Tech center) serving grades 9-12, Milan Elementary, serving grades K-4, and Milan Middle, serving grades 5-8. Historically, there were four schools - K.D. McKellar, grades 1-8, Park Avenue, also grades 1-8, Milan High School, 9-12, and Polk-Clark, which served black students in all twelve grades. McKellar's and Park Avenue's buildings were recently demolished; Polk-Clark's is now a community center.
The Milan High athletic teams, known as the Bulldogs, have been very successful, winning state championships in football, girls' basketball, and baseball. Legendary football coach John Tucker, who once held the state record for most victories as a head coach, coached at Milan for 25 years. The Bulldogs won two state championships under Tucker, and have won two under present head coach Jeff Morris. A large number of young men from Milan High have gone on to play college football. Under coach Wylie Wheeler, the girls' basketball team once amassed 69 consecutive victories. The former Polk-Clark high school, known as the Buffaloes, fielded powerful basketball teams. The Milan High Marching Band has won many awards. In 1960, in addition to winning the state girls' basketball championship, Milan High won the "Quiz 'Em on the Air", a quizbowl-style competition on a Memphis television station. The Milan High School Alumni Association is believed to be the oldest and most active organization of its kind. Alumni Day is held the third Saturday in June each year. Hundreds of graduates return for this annual gathering. Each year, the MHSAA presents thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors. There is also an active Polk-Clark alumni organization
The Milan Endowment for Growth in Academics (MEGA), is Tennessee's first private community financial endowment for public education. Proceeds provide public school students with opportunities not covered by the school budget. Only the income of the fund is spent. The principal is kept intact to yield proceeds for future years. Since its inception in 1990, MEGA has disbursed money for over 150 different projects. The total amount of the endowment is now over $400,000.
Milan is home to the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum (a part of the University of Tennessee, which has an agricultural experiment station located at Milan). The museum contains more than 2,700 artifacts and farm tools from the local agrarian culture. The University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station conducts crop research, crop management and erosion control experiments. The no-till method of farming originated at the Milan facility. The experiment station is host for the Milan No Till-Field Day, an agricultural demonstration event held the fourth Thursday of July in even-numbered years. This event draws attendees from many states. The Buford Ellington 4-H Club Training Center is located at the experiment station.
Milan has a large, modern city park located on State Route 104. Milan is the home of Johnnie Hale Stadium (a football facility which bears the name of a female schoolteacher) located just off the U.S. 45E-U.S. 79 intersection. For many years, Johnnie Hale Stadium hosted a high school football bowl game, the West Tennessee Jaycee Bowl. The 1971 TSSAA Class AA championship game was also held there. The Milan Golf and Country Club, a private club, has an 18-hole course. The public library, the Mildred G. Fields Library, contains 35,000 volumes and is housed in a building on Van Hook Street. The B.D. Bryant Memorial Library, located on First Street, houses a collection of rare religious books. This library, privately owned, is open to the public. The U.S. Post Office Building in Milan is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Water, sewer, and electricity are provided by the city through the Department of Public Utilities Drinking water is extracted from deep wells, and is very pure(biased). Electricity is obtained from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Natural gas is provided by the Gibson County Utility District
Milan General Hospital, a 73-bed acute care facility located on Highland Street, has been a for-profit entity since 1998. It was founded as Clemmer Clinic in 1941, and then was a city-owned entity for many years. The city cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery, is located on Highland Street.
Radio stations include WYNU (92.3 FM), WKTB (93.7 FM), WAFR (99.1 FM), WWHY (1360 AM) and WKBJ (1600 AM).