Best PlacesSullivan County, TN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sullivan County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sullivan County ranks 1,555th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and health outcomes. It does better on low disaster risk, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Sullivan County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Sullivan County
The parts of Sullivan County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Piney Flats & Colonial Heights
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Blountville
Fewer homes sit empty and more residents vote.
Bristol
Tree cover is thicker and heat risk is lower.
Bluff City
It is quieter, though schools score lower.
Kingsport
Streets are more walkable, though prices have run up more.
Bloomingdale
Commutes are longer and crime runs higher.
Sullivan County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Sullivan County's strengths and weaknesses
Sullivan County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Low disaster risk is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. State finances and state infrastructure follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, health outcomes, and crime hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Sullivan County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 79% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 79% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of counties
Where Sullivan County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 24% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 33% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sullivan County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sullivan County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,264, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Sullivan County's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sullivan County
Sullivan County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sullivan County.
Who works in Sullivan County, and how
Work in Sullivan County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sullivan County
Sullivan County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sullivan County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sullivan County growing, and who is moving in?
Sullivan County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Kingsport, TN metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sullivan County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sullivan County, month by month
Sullivan County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 75° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Sullivan County
The nearest airport, Tri-Cities, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charlotte/Douglas International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sullivan County
Schools across Sullivan County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Holston View ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Stonewall Jackson ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Haynesfield ElementaryA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- Damascus MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
- Wallace MiddleA+ · 71% proficient
- E.b. Stanley MiddleA+ · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Gate City HighA · 73% proficient
- Tennessee Online Public SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Dobyns - Bennett High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sullivan County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sullivan County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Sullivan County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sullivan County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Sullivan County
Is Sullivan County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sullivan County ranks 1,555th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, state finances, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the weather and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sullivan County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,869. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $63,264 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Sullivan County safe?
Sullivan County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $567 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sullivan County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 27. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sullivan County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Piney Flats & Colonial Heights, Blountville, and Bristol. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sullivan County good for families?
Schools beat 73% of counties, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $811 a month.
Is Sullivan County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 42% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 69% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sullivan County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sullivan County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sullivan County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Sullivan County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sullivan County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sullivan County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sullivan County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sullivan County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sullivan County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.