Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Kingsport's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Kingsport?
Your $100,000 in Kingsport has the same purchasing power as $128,370 in the average US city. You'd need $28,370 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Kingsport's cost index of 78, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Kingsport usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: a genuinely affordable place to land, wage income stays untaxed at the state level, plus 2 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Cost of living lands at 78 on the composite index — about 22% under the US average. That's the kind of gap that shows up in the savings rate, not just the rent check. Median rent in town runs about $772/mo against a typical household income of $48,228, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Wage income in Kingsport isn't taxed at the state level. Tennessee is one of the few US states with no income tax, which is one of the reasons people relocating from high-tax states tend to land here in the first place.
Kingsport's air quality index averages about 33 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Kingsport is about 19 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Kingsport's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 32°F, Kingsport sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Kingsport averages about 32°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Kingsport runs about 87°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Kingsport's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Kingsport is at about 1,191 feet (363 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
Higher than average. Kingsport reports about 4,889 incidents per 100,000 residents, above the US average of around 3,500. Citywide numbers are often dragged up by a few hotspots; specific neighborhoods can be very safe in cities that don't look great on paper, and vice versa.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Kingsport's composite cost-of-living index is 78, roughly 22% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Kingsport is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 2 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Transit Score is 7 out of 100. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $54,530 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Kingsport runs about $772/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.