Kingsport Spirit

We started by mapping every city with more than 25,000 residents inside a 300-mile radius of Kingsport, then ranked them by July 2025 median sale price (Realtor.com). The result—downloadable at the end of this post—sweeps across the eastern heartland, from Indiana and Ohio through Kentucky and West Virginia, on to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama. It captures the whole spectrum: big-name metros and their posh suburbs, university towns, courthouse-square county seats, military bases, once-roaring mill hubs, and coalfield communities. In many cases a bargain sticker masks deeper trouble—soft economies, under-performing schools or both.

Kingsport is the outlier. It hits a rare four-point sweet spot:

1. Top-tier schools. Niche rates Kingsport City Schools an “A,” the highest in its region and among Tennessee’s elite. Students can tap 27 AP or dual-enrollment courses, award-winning robotics, and a 98 percent on-time graduation—advantages usually associated with $600k suburbs like Mason (OH) or Apex (NC).
2. True affordability. July 2025’s median sale price was $246,500, less than half Raleigh’s suburban numbers and $70k below Lexington (SC), the next-cheapest “A” district on our list.
3. Rock-solid employment. Joblessness ran 2.9 – 3.6 percent through spring 2025—matching Huntsville and beating Nashville, Charlotte, and Cincinnati. Credit Eastman Chemical’s 4,000-employee global R&D headquarters (now home to a record-scale molecular-recycling plant) plus the stabilizing payrolls of Ballad Health and a regional VA hospital.
4. Balanced growth. Prices have risen a healthy 3-4 percent annually—enough to build equity without bidding-war volatility.

Put those pieces together and Kingsport delivers big-district academic muscle, Fortune-500 science jobs and starter-home pricing—all wrapped in Blue Ridge scenery and a four-season climate. For families seeking first-class schools without a jumbo mortgage, or remote professionals chasing value with mountain views, few places stretch a real-estate dollar further.