CORE DATA
Ranks of Tri-Cities entrepreneurs increasing
The number of entrepreneurs is increasing in the Tri-Cities. So are their gross receipts. According to the Census Bureau’s latest count, there were 31,009 nonemployer businesses in the seven-county Tri-Cities region in 2017. That’s a 1.8% increase from the previous year. It was a pretty good growth number for a period when total area employment […]
Kingsport-Bristol sales tax collections struggle to recover footing; Johnson City collections make moderate increase
May was another lackluster month for Northeast Tennessee sales tax collections. The three-county Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) almost reached the year-to-date collections growth rate for Northeast Tennessee, and its year-over-year collections were better than the state year-over-year rate and on par with the state and most metro areas. But it wasn’t enough to […]
Here’s a snapshot of how Kingsport consumers spend their money
The Census Bureau is developing and expanding a data tool that’s intended to help businesspeople or those aspiring to start a business. Version 2.5 of a suite of service intended to provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of uses in a simple to access and use form […]
Tri-Cities labor market enters seasonal slump on positive footing
The Tri-Cities labor market entered its seasonal three-month slump with the loss of 300 nonfarm jobs. At the same time, the number of people employed increased by 363 and the unemployment rate increased to 3.4%. That’s a pretty good labor market snapshot when you look at this year’s trend line compared to previous years. Bureau […]
Inventory crunch throws shade on local housing affordability
Median-price homes were not affordable for average wage earners in 74% of the U.S. housing markets during the second quarter of this year. Fortunately, that’s wasn’t the case in Sullivan and Washington counties. But that doesn’t mean the housing affordability crunch is not squeezing the local housing market and people who want to be homeowners. […]
2018 wages increase 4% in Kingsport-Bristol, 1.9% in Johnson City
Kingsport- Bristol Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) workers saw an average 4% wage hike in 2018, according to the recently released Quarterly Census of Employment of Wages (QCEW). The same report shows Johnson City MSA workers go an average 1.9% increase. Adjust those percentages for last year’s inflation and the pay hike in the four-county Kingsport-Bristol […]
Tri-Cities apartment market: Strategic growth, are higher rents reaching tipping point?
At mid-year, the Tri-Cities apartment market is a cauldron of strategic growth, heightened investor interests pushing the upper limits of local average rent market prices and some concerns about rent concessions. According to Realtor.com, renting is currently a better economic position that buying across the region. That’s a situation driven by two years of record-level […]
Tri-Cities sales tax collections continued lackluster performance in April
Seasonally adjusted sales tax collections in the three-county Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) are up 0.6% so far this year while collections in the four-county Kingsport-Bristol MSA are down by 2.9%. Collections for NE Tenn’s four MSAs were up 1.4% for the first four-months of this year. The good news for Kingsport-Bristol is April […]
