Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Metro Area — Elections 1876–2024

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia: Populist metro. In 2024, voted R+57%. Republican peak: R+57 in 2024.

Key facts

2024 presidential margin: R+57MIT Election Lab
Political archetype: PopulistAkashic typology
Population: 310,8422024 5-year
Median household income: $58,1382024 5-year
White (non-Hispanic): 92.9%2024 5-year
Black: 2.0%2024 5-year
Hispanic / Latino: 2.3%2024 5-year
Peak Democratic margin: D+31 in 1912MIT Election Lab
Peak Republican margin: R+57 in 2024MIT Election Lab

2024 results by constituent county

5 counties · 0 D · 5 R

R+60

D+60

One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.

38 presidential elections

Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024).
Year	Won	Margin	Democratic	Republican	Total
2024	R	−57.4%	31,221	117,264	149,947
2020	R	−54.8%	31,977	112,354	146,541
2016	R	−56.4%	25,054	96,086	126,025
2012	R	−45.6%	32,372	88,304	122,735
2008	R	−39.0%	37,737	87,200	126,771
2004	R	−34.5%	39,384	81,505	122,077
2000	R	−21.0%	41,854	64,647	108,661
1996	R	−13.4%	39,912	53,627	102,546
1992	R	−11.0%	41,754	53,840	109,412
1988	R	−28.5%	34,489	62,467	98,202
1984	R	−34.4%	33,633	69,327	103,743
1980	R	−9.6%	41,217	50,377	95,498
1976	D	+1.2%	43,670	42,615	89,044
1972	R	−48.8%	20,124	60,387	82,575
1968	R	−26.4%	19,914	40,408	77,643
1964	D	+5.0%	37,358	33,793	71,271
1960	R	−20.7%	26,500	40,501	67,660
1956	R	−17.6%	26,073	37,380	64,131
1952	R	−18.1%	21,453	30,978	52,629
1948	R	−4.8%	16,282	17,992	35,366
1944	R	−0.3%	15,344	15,424	30,847
1940	D	+9.8%	16,526	13,569	30,223
1936	D	+13.3%	14,628	11,196	25,888
1932	D	+17.8%	13,886	9,643	23,795
1928	R	−15.4%	10,345	14,109	24,460
1924	D	+1.8%	11,205	10,801	22,311
1920	R	−5.8%	10,414	11,708	22,186
1916	D	+1.7%	7,414	7,159	14,624
1912	D	+31.4%	6,876	2,599	13,603
1908	R	−4.2%	6,653	7,238	13,955
1904	R	−7.4%	5,856	6,794	12,756
1900	D	+2.7%	9,179	8,692	17,976
1896	R	−6.2%	8,815	9,997	18,976
1892	D	+14.4%	8,985	6,593	16,572
1888	—	No data	—	—	—
1884	—	No data	—	—	—
1880	—	No data	—	—	—
1876	—	No data	—	—	—

Demographics

Race, ethnicity, and ancestry

Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.

English

19.0%

American

17.9%

Irish

10.6%

German

9.8%

Scottish

2.7%

Italian

1.7%

French

0.9%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.

Age distribution by sex

Median age: 45.6 in this county, 39.1 nationally

Male

Age

Female

0.8%

85+

1.4%

3.4%

75–84

4.2%

6.2%

65–74

6.9%

7.2%

55–64

7.4%

6.7%

45–54

6.6%

5.6%

35–44

5.7%

6.0%

25–34

5.7%

3.9%

18–24

3.6%

7.3%

5–17

6.9%

2.3%

2.2%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Median household income

2024 inflation-adjusted dollars

$58,138

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA ranks near the middle of US counties.

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA$58,138

Virginia$69,595

United States$80,734

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Poverty rate

All persons below federal poverty line

15.1%

Children face moderate poverty.

Children under 1821.6%

Working age (18–64)13.8%

Seniors (65+)12.3%

Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.

Language at home

Population aged 5 and older

97.5%

speak English only

Spanish1.5%

Other Indo-European0.6%

Asian & Pacific Islander0.3%

Other languages0.1%

Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.

Religious adherents

Adherents per capita by tradition

Baptist

24.3%

Other Christian

20.9%

Methodist

8.8%

Mainline Protestant

2.1%

Catholic & Orthodox

2.1%

Pentecostal & Holiness

1.7%

Non-Christian

0.1%

Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 40.0% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.

Kingsport-Bristol spans a state line that splits its electorate across two sets of statewide races, making it a rare metro where identical precincts report to Richmond and Nashville simultaneously. Republican margins here have widened consistently since 2008.

The Democratic margin in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA peaked at thirty-one points in 1912. By 1980 the metro had flipped, voting Republican for the first time in many years. The 2024 margin was fifty-seven points, the most Republican-leaning result in the metro's modern history.

The economic context is the key. The median household income of $58,138 sits well below state and national norms, and 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The shift here is part of a broader realignment of working-class places across the country.

Cite this page

All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/28700/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.

License: CC BY 4.0

Frequently asked questions

How did Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia vote in 2024?

In 2024, Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia voted Republican by 57.4 points (R+57), carried by the Republican candidate. Out of 149,947 votes cast, 31,221 went Democratic and 117,264 went Republican.

What is Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia's political archetype?

Akashic classifies Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia as a "Populist" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 10 times, Republican 24 times, and other 0 times.

When did Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia last vote Democratic?

The most recent presidential election in which Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia voted Democratic was 1976.

How many people live in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia?

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia has a population of 310,842 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.

What is the median household income in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia?

Median household income in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia is $58,138 — below the national median of $80,734. The Virginia state median is $69,595.

What is the political history of Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia?

Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, Virginia from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 10 went Democratic and 24 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Populist" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.

Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA peaked at D+31; 2024 delivered R+57.

Key facts

Demographics

Frequently asked questions