Sullivan County, TN
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 36.51, -82.30.
Assembled 2026-10-19. Read the brief.
- 59th pct · 1,244th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 55th pct · 43rd of 95 Tennessee counties · median $252,394
- 75th pct · 2nd of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median $247,127
- 17th pct · 2,536th of 3,062 US counties · median +2.9%
- 6th pct · 89th of 95 Tennessee counties · median +2.9%
- 25th pct · 4th of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median +2.5%
- 32nd pct · 919th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 28th pct · 33rd of 46 Tennessee counties · median $1,477
- counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro: only 3 of counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro published this metric; fewer than 5 is too few to rank
- 87th pct · 401st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 93rd pct · 7th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 8,576
- 100th pct · 1st of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median 13,196
- 86th pct · 429th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 90th pct · 10th of 95 Tennessee counties · median $1,030
- 100th pct · 1st of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median $1,002
- 39th pct · 1,867th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.2
- 20th pct · 76th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 5.0
- 25th pct · 4th of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median 3.8
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $257,715 (Sep 2026), -0.5% over one year, +32.2% over five
- 59th pct · 1,244th of 3,063 US counties · median $230,451
- 55th pct · 43rd of 95 Tennessee counties · median $252,394
- 75th pct · 2nd of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median $247,127
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sullivan County, TN | $257,715 · -0.5% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $1,319/mo (Sep 2026), +3.6% over one year; price-to-rent 16.3
- 32nd pct · 919th of 1,358 US counties · median $1,506
- 28th pct · 33rd of 46 Tennessee counties · median $1,477
- counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro: only 3 of counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro published this metric; fewer than 5 is too few to rank
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sullivan County, TN | $1,319/mo · +3.6% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $1,427 a month on $257,715 at 7.40%, against an average weekly wage worth $5,750 a month: 24.8% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $257,715 × 80% = $206,172, r = 7.40%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-15), n = 360 → $1,427/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,327 × 52 / 12 = $5,750) = 25% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $257,715 / ($1,327 × 52) = 3.7
- price-to-rent = $257,715 / ($1,319 × 12) = 16.3
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
68,938 jobs at 3,997 employers (2026 Q1); -2.2% jobs and -0.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 87th pct · 401st of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 93rd pct · 7th of 95 Tennessee counties · median 8,576
- 100th pct · 1st of 5 counties in the Kingsport-Bristol metro · median 13,196
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Sullivan County, TN | 68,938 jobs · $1,327/wk · -2.2% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 11,321 | $2,268 | 2.04 | -2.9% |
| Health care and social assistance | 11,025 | $1,480 | 1.06 | +1.0% |
| Retail trade | 8,916 | $707 | 1.33 | -1.5% |
| Accommodation and food services | 7,205 | $462 | 1.16 | -0.9% |
| Construction | 5,022 | $1,503 | 1.39 | +0.6% |
| Administrative and waste services | 4,409 | $833 | 1.13 | -2.8% |
| Professional and technical services | 2,421 | $1,848 | 0.51 | -15.8% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 2,106 | $1,020 | 0.72 | -16.8% |
| Finance and insurance | 1,894 | $2,080 | 0.67 | +1.2% |
| Wholesale trade | 1,758 | $1,452 | 0.67 | -4.8% |
| Other services | 1,510 | $832 | 0.73 | -17.4% |
| Management of companies | 1,397 | $2,177 | 1.21 | +8.1% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$2.4 bn in deposits at 34 offices of 13 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,572, moderately concentrated. $1.3 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $1.2 bn, contracts $77.2 m), $19,206 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Bank of Tennessee | $572.4 m · 23.8% share · 6 offices | |
| First Horizon Bank | $519.6 m · 21.6% share · 5 offices | |
| Regions Bank | $329.1 m · 13.7% share · 4 offices | |
| Sullivan, TN | $1.3 bn FY2026 · $19,206/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank of Tennessee | $572,399,000 | 23.8% | 6 |
| First Horizon Bank | $519,584,000 | 21.6% | 5 |
| Regions Bank | $329,093,000 | 13.7% | 4 |
| The First Bank and Trust Company | $281,696,000 | 11.7% | 4 |
| Citizens Bank | $258,270,000 | 10.7% | 5 |
| Truist Bank | $225,401,000 | 9.4% | 3 |
| Powell Valley National Bank | $57,513,000 | 2.4% | 1 |
| Renasant Bank | $51,172,000 | 2.1% | 1 |
| HomeTrust Bank | $41,350,000 | 1.7% | 1 |
| New Peoples Bank, Inc. | $28,532,000 | 1.2% | 1 |
Deposit concentration is 1,572 across 13 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 13 banks with deposits in the county = 23.8² + 21.6² + 13.7² + … (10 more) = 1,572
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
That is $19,206 per covered job, against 68,938 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $1.3 bn / 68,938 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $19,206
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 17.95 | 2026-10-18 | -2.6% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.20 | 2026-10-19 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 7.00 | 2026-10-13 | +133.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 101.91 | 2026-10-14 | +1.0% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.40 | 2026-10-15 | +0.0% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 652,115.00 | 2026-09-01 | +0.7% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Sullivan County, TN: 17 findings, 3 at a watch level and 14 noted
watchSullivan County, TN's covered employment is -2.2% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -2.2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
watchSullivan County, TN's average weekly wage is -0.6% against a year earlier, a watch level here: average weekly wage below the same quarter a year earlier, before inflation (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.avgWeeklyWage = -0.6 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published, nominal dollars; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSullivan County, TN's typical home value is -0.5% against a year earlier, a watch level here: typical home value below a year ago (arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-09.Show the arithmetic
- test: home.yoyPct = -0.5303173034399232 < 0
arithmetic on Zillow ZHVI, county and metro files; not an official level
noteSullivan County, TN's covered employment was 2.2% lower than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- -2.2 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteSullivan County, TN's average weekly wage was 0.6% lower than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- -0.6 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
Read all 12 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.