Johnson City, TN
Johnson City, TN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Johnson City, TN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Johnson City ranks 290th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 288th for income. A household earns $57,462 a year while median rent runs $993/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 12% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is cost of living (26th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (290th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 40th and home prices 82nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Johnson City, your take-home is worth about $69,731 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 288th of 300↑25.1%$57,462
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 26th of 30088 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $65,351
- Per-capita income
- $33,093
- Full-time pay
- $38,764
Housing
- Median rent
- 40th of 300↑36%$993/mo
- Home value
- 82nd of 300↑56.3%$244,500
- Property tax
- $1,135/yr · 0.5%
- Sales tax
- 9.56%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 37th of 3003.1%
- Bachelor's+
- 203rd of 30029.9%
- Avg commute
- 89th of 30022.5 min
People
- Population
- 215,679
- Population change
- +5.9%
- Median age
- 42.6 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 3.2%
- Broadband
- 91.6%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 54th of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 246th of 30022.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 11.9%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Cost of living
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Job market
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — bristol ap.
What jobs pay in Johnson City
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Financial managers
- $133,170
- Pharmacists
- $128,580
- IT managers
- $128,530
- Lawyers
- $117,390
- Software developers
- $103,320
- General & operations managers
- $93,200
- Civil engineers
- $82,470
- Registered nurses
- $77,660
- Family medicine physicians
- $77,610
- Accountants & auditors
- $64,710
- Elementary school teachers
- $61,330
- Secondary school teachers
- $60,180
- Electricians
- $52,190
- Plumbers
- $48,480
- Carpenters
- $47,920
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $47,670
- Police officers
- $46,560
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $44,290
- Construction laborers
- $41,150
- Customer service reps
- $36,570
- Janitors
- $30,420
- Retail salespersons
- $29,820
- Cashiers
- $27,160
- Waiters & waitresses
- $22,070
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Johnson City metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Tennessee are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Florida1,338
- North Carolina1,260
- Virginia994
- Georgia340
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Johnson City
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Johnson City metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Johnson City metro?
- Median gross rent across the Johnson City, TN Metro Area is $993 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Johnson City.
- What is the median household income in the Johnson City metro?
- A typical household in the Johnson City, TN Metro Area earns $57,462 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Johnson City expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Johnson City, TN Metro Area runs about 12% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Johnson City metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $65,351 (versus its face value of $57,462). CityLedger rates the Johnson City, TN Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Johnson City metro?
- The median home value across the Johnson City, TN Metro Area is $244,500 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Johnson City metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Johnson City, TN Metro Area is 3.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).