Johnson City, TN Metro Area

The Johnson City, TN metro area is made up of 3 counties in Tennessee: Washington, Carter, and Unicoi, largest first. About 216,416 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 4.4% more than in April 2020.

Carter County, centralUnicoi County, outlyingWashington County, centralJohnson City
Central Outlying 3 counties in Tennessee
Population, July 2025
216,416 4.4% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
3: 2 central, 1 outlying
Land area
854 sq mi (2,212 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
Tennessee
Combined statistical area
Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
CBSA code
27740

Counties in the Johnson City, TN metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Washington CountyCentral141,19965.2%
Carter CountyCentral57,36126.5%
Unicoi CountyOutlying17,8568.3%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central counties, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal city

  1. Johnson City72,222 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Part of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA combined statistical area

OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 2 areas in this one, largest first:

  1. Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area314,834 people
  2. Greeneville, TN Micro Area73,831 people

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area15 mi northwest
  2. Greeneville, TN Micro Area27 mi southwest
  3. Asheville, NC Metro Area54 mi south

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗