With gas prices at all time highs, I began to wonder about Tri-Cities residents’ journey to work.
I wonder when people will begin to choose a home that’s a little closer to their workplace (or centrally located between two spouses’ workplaces).
According to today’s AAA report, the average price for regular gas in Tri-Cities is $2.899 per gallon.
My own journey to work is a cross town commute of 4.6 miles.
Assuming I make that trip at least twice a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks per year, the result is 2,305 miles per year. The cost of gas would be $352 per year (excluding wear & tear on my vehicle).
· If I drove from Church Hill (an additional 2,750 miles per year), my annual fuel cost would be $771 – or $420 more per year
· If I drove from Bristol (an additional 9,460 miles per year), my annual fuel cost would be $1,795 – or $1,443 more per year
· If I drove from Johnson City (an additional 10,520 miles per year), my annual cost would be $1,956 – or $1,605 more per year
Since my Kingsport city property taxes are $1,036 per year, if I chose to live in Bristol or Johnson City and drive to work in Kingsport the fuel cost would be comparable to overpaying my city taxes by 140%-160% every year. And this doesn’t account for the additional mileage I would be putting on my vehicle.
So, where do you live? Where do you work?
If you work in Kingsport, does it make sense to live in Kingsport? If you work in Johnson City, does it make sense to live in Johnson City?
For most Tri-Cities residents, the answer appears to be “yes”.
The statistics show that a vast majority of Tri-Cities residents live near their workplace. If they choose to commute, it’s most likely to an immediately adjoining county.
As you pass cars on the interstate, have you ever wondered where Tri-Cities “rush hour” traffic originates? Where it’s headed?
On I-26, for example, there are 14% of Washington County TN (Johnson City) residents heading for work in Sullivan County (Kingsport-Bristol) while 11% of Sullivan County residents are heading to work in Washington County TN.
Recently, Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol was designated as an independent metropolitan area (an unpopular concept locally). The statistics reinforce this definition as most of the economic interaction occurs between the core counties of Sullivan TN, Hawkins TN, Scott VA and Washington VA. For example, there is very little economic interaction between Kingsport-Bristol and Carter or Unicoi Counties.
· 72% of all Sullivan County residents live AND work in Sullivan County
· 40% of all Scott County, VA (Gate City) residents work in Sullivan County
· 29% of all Bristol, VA residents work in Sullivan County
· 27% of all Hawkins County, TN (Church Hill-Rogersville) residents work in Sullivan County
· 14% of all Washington County, TN (Johnson City) residents work in Sullivan County
· 11% of all Washington County, VA (Abingdon) residents work in Sullivan County
· 7% of all Carter County, TN (Elizabethton) residents work in Sullivan County
· 5% of all Unicoi County, TN (Erwin) residents work in Sullivan County
Similarly, Johnson City was designated as an independent metropolitan area. The statistics reinforce this definition as most of the economic interaction occurs between the core counties of Washington TN, Carter TN and Unicoi TN. For example, there is very little economic interaction between Johnson City and Hawkins County TN, Scott County VA, or Washington County VA.
· 74% of all Washington County residents live AND work in Washington County, TN
· 39% of all Carter County (Elizabethton) residents work in Washington County, TN
· 31% of all Unicoi County (Erwin) residents work in Washington County, TN
· 11% of all Sullivan County, TN (Kingsport-Bristol) residents work in Washington County, TN
Yet another designation, “micropolitan”, was used to categorize places like Greeneville-Greene County which essentially operates as its own economy. Statistically, there is very little economic interaction between Greene County and any of the other counties in the Tri-Cities region.
· 85% of all Greene County residents live AND work in Greene County
· 4% of all Greene County residents work in Washington County TN (Johnson City)
· 3% of all Greene County residents work in Hamblen County TN (Morristown)
· 3% of all Greene County residents work in Sullivan County TN (Kingsport-Bristol)
More interesting facts:
· Scott County, VA (Gate City) is the only Tri-Cities county where a higher percentage of county residents find work in a neighboring county (Sullivan County TN) than their own home county
· 27% of all Hawkins County, TN (Rogersville-Church Hill) residents work in Sullivan County, TN (Kingsport-Bristol), while only 2% of Sullivan County residents work in Hawkins County
· 29% all Bristol, VA residents work in Sullivan County, TN (Kingsport-Bristol), while only 6% of Sullivan County residents work in Bristol, VA
· 39% of all Carter County (Elizabethton) residents work in Washington County, TN (Johnson City), while only 2% of Washington County residents work in Carter County
· 31% of all Unicoi County (Erwin) residents work in Washington County, TN (Johnson City), while only 2% of Washington County residents work in Unicoi County
· Greene County, TN (Greeneville) seems to operates as an independent economy – 85% of its residents live and work in Greene County with very little interaction with surrounding counties – which supports its federal designation as an independent micropolitan area
· Hancock County, TN (Sneedville) is typically assigned to the Tri-Cities statistical area, but its primary external employment interaction is with Hamblen (Morristown), Claiborne (Tazewell) & Grainer (Rutledge) – in that order. The nearest Tri-Cities county (Hawkins) falls a distant fourth in its economic interdependence with Hancock.
· Johnson County, TN (Mountain City) is typically assigned to the Tri-Cities statistical area, but its primary external employment interaction is with Watauga County NC (Boone) and Caldwell County NC (Lenoir).
Let’s take a county-by-county look:
72% of Sullivan County residents live AND work in Sullivan County.
11% work in Washington County, TN
6% in Bristol City, VA
4% in Washington County, VA
2% in Hawkins County, TN
74% of Washington County, TN residents live AND work in Washington County
14% work in Sullivan County
4% in Greene County
2% in Carter County
2% in Unicoi County
85% of Greene County residents live and work in Greene County
4% work in Washington County, TN
3% in Hamblen County
3% in Sullivan County
69% of Washington County, VA residents live and work in Washington County, VA
15% work in Bristol City, VA
11% in Sullivan County, TN
7% in Smyth County, VA
2% in Russell County, VA
44% of Carter County residents live and work in Carter County
39% work in Washington County, TN
7% in Sullivan County, TN
59% of Hancock County residents live and work in Hancock County
14% work in Hamblen County
9% in Claiborne County
7% in Grainger County
5% in Hawkins County
52% of Hawkins County residents live and work in Hawkins County
27% work in Sullivan County
9% work in Hamblen County
3% work in Washington County
3% work in Greene County
64% of Johnson County residents live and work in Johnson County
15% work in Watauga County, NC
4% work in Caldwell County, NC
3% work in Carter County, TN
3% work in Washington County, TN
3% work in Washington County, VA
54% of Unicoi County residents live and work in Unicoi County
31% work in Washington County, TN
5% work in Sullivan County, TN
3% work in Carter County
46% of Bristol City, VA residents live and work in Bristol City, VA
29% work in Sullivan County, TN
17% work in Washington County, VA
3% work in Washington County, TN
40% of Scott County, VA residents live and work in Scott County
40% work in Sullivan County, TN
4% work in Washington County, TN
4% work in Wise County, VA
3% work in Hawkins County, TN
2% work in Washington County, VA
