The Tri-Cities is the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City, and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virg ...

. All three cities are located in Northeast Tennessee, while Bristol has a twin city of the same name in Virginia. The Tri-Cities region was formerly a single

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

(MSA); due to the U.S. Census Bureau's revised definitions of urban areas in the early 2000s, it is now a

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

(CSA) with two metropolitan components: Johnson City and Kingsport-Bristol (TN)-Bristol (VA)

However, the Tri-Cities are usually still considered one population center, which is the fifth-largest in Tennessee.

Combined Statistical Area

Components

;Tennessee * Carter County, Tennessee, Carter County * Greene County * Hancock County * Hawkins County * Johnson County * Sullivan County * Unicoi County * Washington County ;Virginia * City of Bristol (Independent City) * Scott County * Washington County

Communities

Places with more than 50,000 inhabitants

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. Joh ...

(principal city) * Kingsport, Tennessee (principal city)

Places with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in the State of Tennessee. Located in Sullivan County, its population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. T ...

(principal city) * Bristol, Virginia (principal city) * Bloomingdale, Tennessee ( CDP) *

Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...

* Greeneville, Tennessee

Places with 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

* Baileyton, Tennessee *

Bulls Gap, Tennessee Bulls Gap is a town in Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 756 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kingsport– Bristol (TN)– Bristol (VA) Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson Cit ...

* Damascus, Virginia * Clinchport, Virginia * Duffield, Virginia * Dungannon, Virginia * Meadowview, Virginia (CDP) * Mooresburg, Tennessee (CDP) * Nickelsville, Virginia * Telford, Tennessee (CDP) *

Watauga, Tennessee Watauga is a city in Carter and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 403 at the 2000 census and 458 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Jo ...

Unincorporated places

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 480,091 people, 199,218 households, and 138,548 families residing within the CSA. The racial makeup of the CSA was 96.22%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 2.12%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.20% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.02% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.74% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 0.92% of the population. The median income for a household in the CSA was $30,331, and the median income for a family was $37,254. Males had a median income of $29,561 versus $21,014 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CSA was $16,923.

Transportation

Interstate Highways I-26 and

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

intersect in the region, while I-40, I-77, and I-75 are nearby.

Tri-Cities Regional Airport Tri-Cities Airport (also known as Tri-Cities Airport, TN/VA), is in Blountville, Tennessee, United States. It serves the Tri-Cities area (Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City) of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The airport is governed ...

(TRI) has non-stop service to Atlanta, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, and St. Petersburg/Clearwater. Airlines include

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air (usually shortened to Allegiant) is an ultra low-cost U.S. carrier that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America. Allegiant was founded in 1 ...

and

American Eagle Airlines Envoy Air Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airline ...

. Additionally, TRI manages an aggressive Air Cargo program, administers Foreign Trade Zone 204, supports and promotes U.S. Customs Port 2027, and provides trade development assistance. The Region has both CSX and Norfolk Southern mainline railway access.

Highways

Interstates

* *

US Highways

* ** *** ** * ** ** * ** * ** ** * ** * **

Airport

The region is served by the

which has scheduled airline passenger jet service.

Education

Colleges and universities

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

* Emmanuel Christian Seminary * Emory & Henry College *

King University King University is a private Presbyterian-affiliated university in Bristol, Tennessee. Founded in 1867, King is independently governed with covenant affiliations to the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). H ...

Milligan College Milligan University is a private Christian university in Milligan College, Tennessee. Founded in 1866 as the Buffalo Male and Female Institute, and known as Milligan College from 1881 to May 2020, the school has a student population of more tha ...

* Northeast State Community College * University of Virginia's College at Wise *

Virginia Intermont College Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia. Founded in 1884 to create additional education opportunities for women, the college had been coeducational since 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties du ...

(Closed May 2014) * Virginia Highlands Community College * Walters State Community College Th
Kingsport Higher Education Center
is a complex in downtown Kingsport, Tennessee that combines classes from five area colleges and universities, including The University of Tennessee.

All-American City Award

The All-America City Award is given by the National Civic League annually to ten cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 1999, the Tri-Cities were collectively designated as an ''All-America City'' by the National Civic League. The award is the oldest community recognition program in the nation and recognizes communities whose citizens work together to identify and tackle community-wide challenges and achieve uncommon results. Since the program's inception in 1949, more than 4,000 communities have competed and over 500 have been named ''All-America Cities''.

Sister cities

Guaranda Guaranda () is a city in central Ecuador. It is the capital of Bolívar province located in the Andes mountains. The city is connected by road with other hubs, including Riobamba, Babahoyo and Ambato. Guaranda is a market town located in a ''va ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Teterow Teterow () is a town of Germany, in the district of Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is the geographical center of this federal state. It had a population of 8,852 in 2011. History The ''Stadtkirche St. Peter und Paul'' (St. Pete ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Rybinsk Rybinsk ( rus, Рыбинск, p=ˈrɨbʲɪnsk), the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia, lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers, 267 kilometers north-north-east of Moscow. Population: It was previously known as ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

References

;General ;Specific
OMB Bulletin No. 04-03. Updates to Statistical Areas. December 2003.U.S. Census Bureau, Table 6. Population in Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs): 1990 and 2000

External links

Tri-Cities TN/VA - The Regional Alliance for Economic DevelopmentNortheast Tennessee Tourism Association
{{authority control East Tennessee * * Geography of Carter County, Tennessee Geography of Hawkins County, Tennessee Geography of Unicoi County, Tennessee Geography of Sullivan County, Tennessee Geography of Washington County, Tennessee Geography of Scott County, Virginia Geography of Washington County, Virginia Bristol, Virginia