Kingsport Spirit

Kingsport has long been considered one of Tennessee’s older cities, and the top-line numbers still say so. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 population estimates, the city’s median age sits in the mid-40s—several years higher than the statewide median age of about 39 and well above many of Tennessee’s faster-growing suburban markets. Yet if you stop at that statistic, you miss the more interesting story emerging beneath the surface: who is moving here, and how those newcomers could quietly bend Kingsport’s future in a younger direction.

Start with scale. The Census Bureau estimates that Kingsport’s population has grown from about 53,028 residents in 2014 to 57,109 in 2024. That’s 4,081 people—roughly equivalent to the total population of Rogersville, 60% of Jonesborough, or 1.24x Blountville. That’s modest growth by Sunbelt standards, but it matters because it reverses years of stagnation and hints at renewed confidence in the city’s trajectory. The more striking trend is within that growth: while the city as a whole remains older, its newcomers are much younger. The median age of in-county movers was just over 26, those relocating from elsewhere in Tennessee averaged 36, and out-of-state arrivals averaged 30. That is a fundamentally different age profile entering the community.

Age cohorts aren’t about vanity; they’re about economics. The 25-to-44 group is the engine of the labor force—the stage of life when people start businesses, buy homes, and raise children. When that cohort grows faster than the retiree population, employers take notice, schools stay full, and local spending broadens. Kingsport is not suddenly a college town, but the tilt of its inflow resembles the kind of demographic balance many midsized cities are trying to regain.

Why would younger adults choose Kingsport now? Affordability is one reason. Data compiled by Realtor.com and the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors show that in mid-2025, Kingsport’s median list price hovered around the low $300,000s, with closed sales typically in the mid-$200,000s—significantly lower than statewide averages. That price gap, combined with the area’s low property taxes and stable utilities, makes Kingsport an appealing alternative for first-time buyers and families priced out of larger metros.

The second factor is the geography of work. The pandemic reshaped where and how people earn a living, and remote and hybrid schedules haven’t gone away. A 2024 report from the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research found that smaller Tennessee cities are attracting remote professionals drawn by lower costs and a better quality of life. Across the Southeast, demographers at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center see the same pattern: younger adults who once clustered in big metros are choosing smaller hubs within a few hours’ reach. Kingsport fits that model—self-contained, close to a metro area of 600,000 and Tri-Cities Airport, yet small enough to feel manageable.

Housing is reinforcing the shift. Across Kingsport, freshly remodeled homes—modest in size, walkable, and near good schools—are appealing to younger buyers who want character without excess. Nationally, the conversion of older housing has become a quiet engine of neighborhood renewal. Demographer Hamilton Lombard notes that smaller cities with a higher share of rentals and moderately priced homes often draw younger households with children, especially when those homes are updated and located in strong school districts. Kingsport appears to be following that same pattern.

And then there are apartments, villas, and townhomes. Over the past decade, developers have added hundreds of new apartments across town—Town Park Lofts, Villas at River Bend, Overlook at Indian Trail, The Retreat at Meadowview, The Jules, Jamestown, Crystal City, and others—alongside major renovations at Brandy Mill, Cross Creek, Allandale Falls, Eastley Court, Parkridge, 3800 North, Country Gardens, Country Shores, Kingsport West, Legacy, and more. Villas and townhomes are also springing up–Landrie’s Landing, Caymus Court, Frylee Court, North Park, West Gate, The Arbor, and Bridwell Place to name a few. These projects offer exactly what early-career households are looking for: convenience, modern finishes, and manageable footprints. More units mean more twenty- and thirty-somethings choosing Kingsport—and more potential long-term residents who will stay here rather than leave.

Skeptics will point out that an older base is still an older base. They’re right: a median age doesn’t fall overnight just because a few hundred young households arrive. But a city grows younger in two ways—when its senior population declines faster than other cohorts, or when enough new young adults and children arrive to rebalance the ratio. Tennessee’s own projections show the state aging rapidly over the next 15 years, with about one in five residents expected to be 65 or older by 2040. If Kingsport continues to attract residents in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s even as the state overall grays, that’s more than a curiosity; it’s a strategic advantage for employers, schools, and the local tax base.

That advantage will depend on choices we make now. Cities don’t stay vibrant by accident. To sustain a younger inflow, Kingsport will need housing variety—starter homes, townhomes, and rentals priced for the early career stage—along with broadband, parks, and childcare capacity that make remote work and family life practical. Those aren’t luxuries; they’re the infrastructure of demographic renewal.

There’s no need to frame this as young versus old. Kingsport’s strength has always come from balance—the generation that built the industries and civic institutions alongside the one now moving in to reinvent them. The goal isn’t to stop being an older city; it’s to make sure the next generation is large enough to sustain what the last one created.

If your mental image of Kingsport is fixed in the last century, it’s time for an update. The population is growing, the new faces are younger, and the city’s age curve is finally showing a hint of motion in the right direction. In a state where many smaller cities are aging faster than they’re growing, Kingsport’s quiet shift toward youth may turn out to be its loudest competitive edge.