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

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

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 V ...

. 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 (MSA); due to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

's revised definitions of urban areas in the early 2000s, it is now a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with two metropolitan components: Johnson City and Kingsport–Bristol, TN–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 * Hawkins County * Sullivan County * Unicoi County * Washington County ;Virginia * Scott County * Washington County * City of Bristol (Independent City)

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 Tennessee's eighth-most populous cit ...

(principal city) *

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It lies along the Holston River and had a population of 55,442 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, ...

(principal city)

Places with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

(principal city) *

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

(principal city) *

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 ...

Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of American Revolutionary War, Revol ...

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-Bristol, TN-VA MSA, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport- ...

* Damascus, Virginia *

Embreeville, Tennessee Embreeville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in southern Washington County, Tennessee. It is located along the Nolichucky River and on State Routes 81 and 107. The population of the CDP was 429 at the 2020 census. Demo ...

(CDP) * Clinchport, Virginia * Duffield, Virginia *

Dungannon, Virginia Dungannon is a town in Scott County, Virginia. The population was 257 at the 2020 census. It was named after the town of Dungannon in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Dungannon is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Stati ...

Meadowview, Virginia Meadowview (listed as Meadow View by the Census Bureau in 2010) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Virginia, United States. The population was 861 at the 2020 census. down from 967 at the 2010 census. It is part of the King ...

(CDP) *

Mooresburg, Tennessee Mooresburg is a census-designated place (CDP) and an unincorporated town in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Its population was 941 as of the 2010 census. It is located along U.S. Route 11W between Rogersville and Bean Station. Demographics Hi ...

(CDP) * Nickelsville, Virginia *

Telford, Tennessee Telford is a census-designated place and Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Washington County, Tennessee, located between Jonesborough, Tennessee, Jonesborough and Limestone, Tennessee, Limestone. As of the 2010 census, ...

(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, 458 at the 2010 census, 361 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which ...

Unincorporated places

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

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 chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.12%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

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

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.02% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

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 average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

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), serves the Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tri-Cities area (Johnson City, Tennessee; Kingsport, Tennessee; Bristol, Tennessee-Bristol, Virginia, Virginia) of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest ...

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

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air is an American ultra low-cost carrier, ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ult ...

and American Eagle Airlines. 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. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

* Emmanuel Christian Seminary * Emory & Henry College *

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

* Milligan College * Northeast State Community College *

Tusculum University Tusculum University is a Private university, private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian university with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee. It is Tennessee's first university and the 28th-oldest operating college or university in the ...

University of Virginia's College at Wise The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) is a public liberal arts college adjacent to Wise, Virginia. It is part of the University of Virginia, though separately accredited, and was established in 1954 as Clinch Valley College of t ...

Virginia Intermont College Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia founded in 1884 to create additional educational opportunities for women. The college became coeducational in 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties duri ...

(Closed May 2014) * Virginia Highlands Community College *

Walters State Community College Walters State Community College (abbreviated as WSCC, and commonly known as Walters State) is a public community college based in Morristown, Tennessee. It was founded in 1970 and is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college wa ...

Th
Kingsport Higher Education Center
is a complex in downtown

that combines classes from five area colleges and universities, including The University of Tennessee.

All-American City Award

The

All-America City Award The All-America City Award is a community recognition program in the United States given by the National Civic League. The award recognizes the work of communities in using inclusive civic engagement to address critical issues and create stron ...

is given by the

National Civic League The National Civic League is an American nonpartisan, non-profit organization founded in 1894 as the "National Municipal League”; it adopted its new name in 1986. Its mission is to advance civic engagement to create equitable, thriving communit ...

annually to ten cities in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1999, the Tri-Cities were collectively designated as an ''All-America City'' by the

. 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 '' ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Teterow Teterow () is a town of Germany, in the Rostock (district), 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 u ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Rybinsk Rybinsk (, ) is the second-largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia. It lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna rivers, north-north-east of Moscow. Population: It was previously known as '' ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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

Combined Statistical Area

Components

Communities

Places with more than 50,000 inhabitants

Places with 10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants

Places with 1,000 to 10,000 inhabitants

Places with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants

Unincorporated places

Demographics

Transportation

Highways

Interstates

US Highways

Airport

Education

Colleges and universities

All-American City Award

Sister cities

See also

References

External links