diff --git a/PENDING.md b/PENDING.md
index b874b9bf7..70ba77d04 100644
--- a/PENDING.md
+++ b/PENDING.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ BREAKING CHANGES
       * `cosmosaccaddr` / `cosmosaccpub` => `cosmos` / `cosmospub`
       * `cosmosvaladdr` / `cosmosvalpub` => `cosmosvaloper` / `cosmosvaloperpub`
     * [x/stake] [#1013] TendermintUpdates now uses transient store
+    * [x/stake] \#2435 Remove empty bytes from the ValidatorPowerRank store key
     * [x/gov] [#2195] Governance uses BFT Time
     * [x/gov] \#2256 Removed slashing for governance non-voting validators
     * [simulation] \#2162 Added back correct supply invariants
@@ -129,6 +130,7 @@ IMPROVEMENTS
     * [x/auth] Signature verification's gas cost now accounts for pubkey type. [#2046](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/2046)
     * [x/stake] [x/slashing] Ensure delegation invariants to jailed validators [#1883](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/1883).
     * [x/stake] Improve speed of GetValidator, which was shown to be a performance bottleneck. [#2046](https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint/pull/2200)
+    * [x/stake] \#2435 Improve memory efficiency of getting the various store keys
     * [genesis] \#2229 Ensure that there are no duplicate accounts or validators in the genesis state.
     * Add SDK validation to `config.toml` (namely disabling `create_empty_blocks`) \#1571
     * \#1941(https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/1941) Version is now inferred via `git describe --tags`.
diff --git a/x/stake/keeper/key.go b/x/stake/keeper/key.go
index 02d54e2b7..7d3ea0850 100644
--- a/x/stake/keeper/key.go
+++ b/x/stake/keeper/key.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ func GetAddressFromValBondedIndexKey(IndexKey []byte) []byte {
 // VALUE: validator operator address ([]byte)
 func GetValidatorsByPowerIndexKey(validator types.Validator, pool types.Pool) []byte {
 	// NOTE the address doesn't need to be stored because counter bytes must always be different
-	return getValidatorPowerRank(validator, pool)
+	return getValidatorPowerRank(validator)
 }
 
 // get the bonded validator index key for an operator address
@@ -63,22 +63,23 @@ func GetBondedValidatorIndexKey(operator sdk.ValAddress) []byte {
 // get the power ranking of a validator
 // NOTE the larger values are of higher value
 // nolint: unparam
-func getValidatorPowerRank(validator types.Validator, pool types.Pool) []byte {
+func getValidatorPowerRank(validator types.Validator) []byte {
 
 	potentialPower := validator.Tokens
 	powerBytes := []byte(potentialPower.ToLeftPadded(maxDigitsForAccount)) // power big-endian (more powerful validators first)
+	powerBytesLen := len(powerBytes)
+	// key is of format prefix || powerbytes || heightBytes || counterBytes
+	key := make([]byte, 1+powerBytesLen+8+2)
 
-	// heightBytes and counterBytes represent strings like powerBytes does
-	heightBytes := make([]byte, binary.MaxVarintLen64)
-	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(heightBytes, ^uint64(validator.BondHeight)) // invert height (older validators first)
-	counterBytes := make([]byte, 2)
-	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(counterBytes, ^uint16(validator.BondIntraTxCounter)) // invert counter (first txns have priority)
+	key[0] = ValidatorsByPowerIndexKey[0]
+	copy(key[1:powerBytesLen+1], powerBytes)
 
-	return append(append(append(
-		ValidatorsByPowerIndexKey,
-		powerBytes...),
-		heightBytes...),
-		counterBytes...)
+	// include heightBytes height is inverted (older validators first)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(key[powerBytesLen+1:powerBytesLen+9], ^uint64(validator.BondHeight))
+	// include counterBytes, counter is inverted (first txns have priority)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint16(key[powerBytesLen+9:powerBytesLen+11], ^uint16(validator.BondIntraTxCounter))
+
+	return key
 }
 
 //______________________________________________________________________________
@@ -138,28 +139,42 @@ func GetUBDsByValIndexKey(valAddr sdk.ValAddress) []byte {
 // gets the key for a redelegation
 // VALUE: stake/types.RedelegationKey
 func GetREDKey(delAddr sdk.AccAddress, valSrcAddr, valDstAddr sdk.ValAddress) []byte {
-	return append(append(
-		GetREDsKey(delAddr.Bytes()),
-		valSrcAddr.Bytes()...),
-		valDstAddr.Bytes()...)
+	key := make([]byte, 1+sdk.AddrLen*3)
+
+	copy(key[0:sdk.AddrLen+1], GetREDsKey(delAddr.Bytes()))
+	copy(key[sdk.AddrLen+1:2*sdk.AddrLen+1], valSrcAddr.Bytes())
+	copy(key[2*sdk.AddrLen+1:3*sdk.AddrLen+1], valDstAddr.Bytes())
+
+	return key
 }
 
 // gets the index-key for a redelegation, stored by source-validator-index
 // VALUE: none (key rearrangement used)
 func GetREDByValSrcIndexKey(delAddr sdk.AccAddress, valSrcAddr, valDstAddr sdk.ValAddress) []byte {
-	return append(append(
-		GetREDsFromValSrcIndexKey(valSrcAddr),
-		delAddr.Bytes()...),
-		valDstAddr.Bytes()...)
+	REDSFromValsSrcKey := GetREDsFromValSrcIndexKey(valSrcAddr)
+	offset := len(REDSFromValsSrcKey)
+
+	// key is of the form REDSFromValsSrcKey || delAddr || valDstAddr
+	key := make([]byte, len(REDSFromValsSrcKey)+2*sdk.AddrLen)
+	copy(key[0:offset], REDSFromValsSrcKey)
+	copy(key[offset:offset+sdk.AddrLen], delAddr.Bytes())
+	copy(key[offset+sdk.AddrLen:offset+2*sdk.AddrLen], valDstAddr.Bytes())
+	return key
 }
 
 // gets the index-key for a redelegation, stored by destination-validator-index
 // VALUE: none (key rearrangement used)
 func GetREDByValDstIndexKey(delAddr sdk.AccAddress, valSrcAddr, valDstAddr sdk.ValAddress) []byte {
-	return append(append(
-		GetREDsToValDstIndexKey(valDstAddr),
-		delAddr.Bytes()...),
-		valSrcAddr.Bytes()...)
+	REDSToValsDstKey := GetREDsToValDstIndexKey(valDstAddr)
+	offset := len(REDSToValsDstKey)
+
+	// key is of the form REDSToValsDstKey || delAddr || valSrcAddr
+	key := make([]byte, len(REDSToValsDstKey)+2*sdk.AddrLen)
+	copy(key[0:offset], REDSToValsDstKey)
+	copy(key[offset:offset+sdk.AddrLen], delAddr.Bytes())
+	copy(key[offset+sdk.AddrLen:offset+2*sdk.AddrLen], valSrcAddr.Bytes())
+
+	return key
 }
 
 // rearranges the ValSrcIndexKey to get the REDKey
diff --git a/x/stake/keeper/key_test.go b/x/stake/keeper/key_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3272a50e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x/stake/keeper/key_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package keeper
+
+import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/stake/types"
+	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/crypto/ed25519"
+)
+
+var (
+	pk1 = ed25519.GenPrivKey().PubKey()
+)
+
+func TestGetValidatorPowerRank(t *testing.T) {
+	valAddr1 := sdk.ValAddress(pk1.Bytes())
+	emptyDesc := types.Description{}
+	val1 := types.NewValidator(valAddr1, pk1, emptyDesc)
+	val1.Tokens = sdk.NewDec(12)
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		validator types.Validator
+		wantHex   string
+	}{
+		{val1, "05303030303030303030303132ffffffffffffffffffff"},
+	}
+	for i, tt := range tests {
+		got := hex.EncodeToString(getValidatorPowerRank(tt.validator))
+
+		assert.Equal(t, tt.wantHex, got, "Keys did not match on test case %d", i)
+	}
+}