Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in Murfreesboro. The city is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes thirteen counties and a population of 1,666,566 (2009).Although Murfreesboro is sometimes considered a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee, which is 35 mi to the northwest, it is far enough away and has a large enough population to maintain a separate identity from its larger neighbor, and thus can be considered a smaller city within the Nashville-Murfreesboro metropolitan area. It is Tennessee's fastest growing major city and one of the fastest growing cities in the country, with a population growth from 46,000 to 69,000 between 1990 and 2000, a change of 50%. The city is also home to Middle Tennessee State University, the largest undergraduate university in the state of Tennessee, with an undergraduate population of 22,299 and 25,188 total students .In 2006, Murfreesboro was ranked by Money as the 84th best place to live in the United States, out of 745 cities with a population over 50,000.