Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bristol grades D overall, 228th of 249 graded towns in Virginia, mostly because of safety and health. Its police reported 80 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. Residents are less healthy than 86% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: natural-hazard risk is low. 27% of working residents work locally in Bristol, where Virginia’s towns sit at 4.8% and U.S. towns at 8%. Bristol has 12 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Bristol Railroad Station and Virginia Intermont College. Bristol is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns.
Where Bristol beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 1,562 in 1880, 17,219 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 6 maps from 1934 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Bristol is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bristol, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Bristol.
Bristol draws workers from Bristol and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Virginia rate.
20 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. Bristol’s trail density is 1.6 miles per square mile. Sugar Hollow Park, at 367 acres with 14.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Bristol | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.6 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.5% | 4.6% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sugar Hollow Park | 14.3 mi | 367 |
| 2. Randolph Park | — | 18 |
| 3. Mumpower Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Bristol City Public Schools. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Virginia High, with 638 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Intermediate SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 2–5 | Grades 2–5 | 655 | – |
| Virginia HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 638 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
10,117 jobs are based in Bristol, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 27% of working residents cross a state line to work, Bristol among the top destinations.
About one in 4 of Bristol’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Bristol is 18 minutes. Since 2013, Bristol has lost 1,228 jobs, to 10,117 in 2023.
| Bristol | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $50,000 | $102,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 12% | 18% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 5 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Virginia rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Reported crimes fell from 746 to 513 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Bristol reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 91% report less.
| Bristol | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 26.9 per 1,000 residents | 14.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5 per 1,000 residents | 2.3 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The median property tax bill is $1,387, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Bristol home is worth about $201,000, down 1.6% in a year, 51% below the Virginia typical home. 64% of households own their home in Bristol.
| Bristol | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $801 a month | $1,764 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 64% | 68% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 5,937 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bristol’s, it is less healthy than 66%, so its D isn’t only a matter of income.
17% of Bristol adults report frequent physical distress. Bristol beats the Virginia average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 19. 18% of Bristol adults smoke cigarettes.
| Bristol | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Bristol | VA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.7% | 11.1% |
| More adults with COPD | 10.5% | 6.2% |
| More smokers | 18.1% | 12.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 13 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bristol.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Bristol has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 26° and about 9 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bristol
About 4 of every 100 Bristol residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
Where Bristol’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
12 places in Bristol on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Bristol.
City in Virginia, US
Bristol is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the twin city of Bristol, Tennessee, just across the state line, which runs down the middle of its main street, State Street. As an independent city, Bristol is not part of any county, but it is adjacent to Washington County, Virginia. It is a principal city in the Kingsport–Bristol metropolitan area, which had a population of 307,614 in 2020. The metro area is a component of the larger Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, with a population of 508,260 in 2020.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Bristol.
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bristol grades D overall, better than 12% of U.S. towns and #228 of 249 in Virginia. It grades D for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.5 years of the area's median household income ($57,792 across the Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
14 notable people were born here, including Charles Spurgeon Johnson and Beattie Feathers.
