Category: Move To Kingsport
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Kingsport: The Family-Friendly City Hiding in Plain Sight
Every year, national magazines unveil another list of “The Best Cities for Young Families.” The latest lineup from House Beautiful features Queen Creek, Arizona; Bozeman, Montana; Littleton, New Hampshire; Plano, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama; Carmel, Indiana; Greenville, South Carolina; and Cary, North Carolina. They’re all described as affordable, family-friendly communities with good schools, growing economies, and…
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You’re Invited: Oct. 22
Arguably the biggest reason to move to Kingsport is the tradition of excellence in Kingsport City Schools. Click the preceding links to learn more. Move to Kingsport and Eastman Credit Union invite you to discover The Kingsport Advantage—a closer look at what makes our schools and community thrive in spite of headwinds. We’d love to…
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Northeast Tennessee: Three Ways to Read the Tri-Cities Market
The housing market across Northeast Tennessee shows a layered pattern of activity when you look at both overall sales and sales per capita. Over the past 30 days, Kingsport, Johnson City, and the Bristol twin cities clearly dominate the region in total homes sold, reflecting their size, employment bases, and regional influence. Kingsport leads with…
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Kingsport Is Older—But Its Newcomers Are Changing That
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…
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Think You Know Burlington? Think Again
BURLINGTON OPENS AT KINGSPORT PAVILION ON OCTOBER 10 Burlington has been part of Kingsport for 36 years, but the new store at Kingsport Pavilion (2626 East Stone Drive) isn’t “more of the same.” The retailer has rebuilt its playbook and is expanding nationwide while many chains are shrinking. At a time when others lean harder…
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Closer, Smaller, Stronger
MOVE TO KINGSPORT MONTHLY REPORT This September brought 47 newcomer families from outside the region, down from 57 last September. They came from 22 states instead of 27, and the daily pace eased from about 3.0 families per workday to 2.35. On paper that looks like a clear step down, but the price mix tells…
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Kingsport, Johnson City Leading, but the Real Story Is Affordability
The August 2025 sales report of the Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors shows Kingsport posted 124 closings and Johnson City 116—roughly 39% of all regional sales. That concentration tells you where buyers are most active. Bristol (TN+VA) 57, Greeneville 48, Jonesborough 43, Elizabethton 40—accounts for most of the remaining action, while the rest of the…
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Kingsport-Bristol: Quietly Leading Tennessee’s Economy
The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) released its July 2025 report with a statistic that turned heads across the state. Kingsport-Bristol posted the highest retail sales tax growth in Tennessee at 3.57%, while Memphis, by contrast, recorded the largest decline at -2.76%. Overall, sales tax collections were down -0.1% statewide month-over-month, but up…
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Kingsport: Playing the Long Game
We often hyper-fixate on Kingsport’s ranking in Tennessee’s growth, but miss the context of cities that are closer than our state capital. When I first began my career, Sullivan was the fifth most populous county, but now it’s tenth, replaced by counties adjoining Nashville. But Nashville, like Austin and Charlotte, is a national phenomenon. It’s…
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Appalachian Poverty: Bad Data, Good Intentions
Recently, we published an article titled “Safer by Design, Not by Statistics” that shows why Tennessee’s crime rate isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with other places—and how it’s often misused to suggest we’re less safe than we really are. You can read it at KingsportSpirit.com. Another misleading statistic is the poverty rate. Appalachia is “poorer” than…
Kingsport Spirit 