What salary do you need to live in Johnson City, TN?

The cost side of living in Johnson City

Renters in Johnson City pay a median $964 a month for two bedrooms. Size matters: one bedroom is $732, three bedrooms $1,017, so going from the smallest to the largest of the three adds $3,420 a year.

Homeowners in Johnson City report a median home value of $219,200. With median household income at $57,762, a typical home costs 3.8× a typical income, close to the middle of the range across US metros.

Price levels matter beyond rent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis measures Johnson City's overall prices at 87.9 on a scale where the nation is 100, which makes a $100,000 salary feel like about $113,729 would elsewhere.

Income needed for each grade in Johnson City

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $24,000, Okay at $49,000 and Comfortable at $98,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 12% of income and the median home is 2.2× income.

Royal, the top band, starts at $250,000. At that income rent is 5% of pay and the median home 0.9× income.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Johnson City at four common salaries

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 62 and a three-bedroom 57, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Of the four salaries, $100,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $75,000 still lands at Okay.

Where Johnson City falls nationally

Ranked against all 387 metros, Johnson City sits 339th on overall price level and 323rd on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 260th.

Great Falls, MT ($967) and Lafayette, LA ($964) bracket Johnson City on two-bedroom rent.

Comparing Johnson City with Tennessee

Compared with Tennessee as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Johnson City is 16% lower ($964 vs. $1,143) and the median home is 24% lower ($219,200 vs. $286,700).

The Tennessee figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $132,000 against $98,000 for Johnson City.

Within Tennessee, the metros closest to Johnson City on rent and overall prices are Cleveland, TN, Jackson, TN, and Morristown, TN. Their Comfortable lines for two bedrooms sit at $105,000, $86,000, and $90,000.

Does the typical Johnson City income clear the bar?

A household at the Johnson City median income of $57,762 would see a two-bedroom score of 50 — Okay — with rent at 20% of income. Put differently, Johnson City's typical household is $40,238 below the $98,000 it takes to read Comfortable on two bedrooms. For Tennessee as a whole, the median household income of $69,595 scores 47 against statewide rents. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

These are pre-tax estimates from public statistics, not financial advice.