Bristol city, VA

County Profile

16,849 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bristol city, VA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

59out of 100
Area Score
Top 50% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity1,177th of 1,463 counties measured38
SchoolsTop 40% of 1,377 counties measured57
Growth1,116th of 1,453 counties measured35
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 1,462 counties measured79
ClimateTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilienceTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured76
AccessTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured90
Economic stability1,310th of 1,463 counties measured25
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 4.4% and the Opportunity signal places Bristol city in the bottom 20%.

In the public schools here, 80% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 10.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
16,849
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$50,404
Bottom 15% nationally
Density
1,309/sq mi
12.9 sq mi of land
Median age
43.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Bristol city
Virginia
Nearest major airport
TRI
17 mi · Tri-Cities
Median home value
$184,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% — higher than in all but 38% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.1% over the past year, to 7,064 employed residents.

Median household income of $50,404 is lower than in 85% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$50,45423rd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$41,8274th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,6942024 ACS 5-Year$50,404Bottom 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4272024 ACS 5-Year$31,284Bottom 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year18.1%Bottom 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.2 minTop 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.8%Top 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year78.4%55th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20267,064Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.5%Bottom 20%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Top 41%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 20267,3886th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%35th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Bottom 11%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.4%Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.6%73rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.22.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202450k44k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $50,404 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers4,170$26,890
Retail Salespersons3,620$31,200
Cashiers3,090$27,420
Stockers and Order Fillers2,910$35,760
Registered Nurses2,660$76,730
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand2,610$35,300

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

80% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 81% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.5 students for every full-time teacher across 2 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
4
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.5
across 2 of them
Math proficiency
80.3%
Bottom 32% in Virginia
Reading proficiency
80.8%
Top 32% in Virginia
All 4 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Virginia HighBristol City Public Schools63811.882%87%
Virginia MiddleBristol City Public Schools4529.078%72%
Highlands Juvenile Detention HomeDepartment of Education State-Operated Educ Prgms0———
Crossroads Alternative/Bristol CityCrossroads Alternative/Bristol City0———

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Virginia’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 15% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 85.0, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area is up 60% over five years, and up 3.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,387 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.75% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,044, some 30% above the $801 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,044 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,800 a year, about 83% of the median household income here of $50,404.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $801 a month.

A median home at $184,100 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $62,847, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
85.0

Prices here run about 15% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,044
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$801
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$184,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Bristol city’s median household income of $50,404, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area’s figure202385.0Top 1%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.0%37th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+60.3%97th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+108.7%74th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 31%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year63.6%12th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±432024 ACS 5-Year8,64138th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$818Top 29%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,338Top 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,044Top 33%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$732024 ACS 5-Year$801Top 35%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,2922024 ACS 5-Year$184,10051st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$862024 ACS 5-Year$1,38741st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,7762024 ACS 5-Year$62,847Bottom 20%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.75%46th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 43%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±592024 ACS 5-Year8016th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%23rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year15.4%86th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2952024 ACS 5-Year1,41542nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

35/ 100
Ranks 1,116 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 6% since 2020, to 16,316 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 7 units authorized in 2025, against 15 the year before.

Federal tax returns show Bristol city gained about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $50,454, above the $41,827 of households that moved out.

At 0.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
10
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.6
Bottom 10% nationally
Year over year
+100%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
50.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202417k16k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
62%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,454
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$41,827
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Sullivan County, TN 367 people · 29% of arrivals
  2. Washington County, VA 321 people · 26% of arrivals
  3. Washington County, TN 63 people · 5.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Sullivan County, TN 327 people · 28% of departures
  2. Washington County, VA 323 people · 27% of departures
  3. Washington County, TN 37 people · 3.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025151.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+600%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.0 inches, including 9.2 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BRISTOL TRI CITY AP, 16.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals44.0"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals9.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

76 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 63% of it. Inland flooding and strong wind are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 75% of measured US counties.

EarthquakeElevated

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, strong wind, lightning, hurricane, cold wave, inland flooding, winter weather, tornado, ice storm, hail, wildfire, drought, heat wave, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Bristol city records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 17.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 18.6 per 100,000 residents in Bristol city.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
18.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Bristol city as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Tri-Cities at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year74.8%Bottom 5%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 21%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year20.4%Bottom 6%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Tri-CitiesTRI17 mi8,000 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL84 mi8,002 ft
Mc Ghee TysonTYS117 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
59
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Bristol city, VA

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.