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Towns / Tennessee

Mount Carmel, Tennessee

Mount Carmel is a suburb of about 5,500 people in Hawkins County, Tennessee, in the Kingsport area. It has grown about 2% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Knoxville, is about 82 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Kingsport

Population
5,540
up 2.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$179,600
Hawkins County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$68,866
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Kingsport area
86.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
6 miles
Kingsport, TN
To Knoxville
82 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 13.6% below the U.S. average in the Kingsport-Bristol metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 2.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools. No public high school in town: the nearest is Volunteer High School, about 7 miles away.
  • A hospital close byWellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, about 6 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityKnoxville is about 82 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Mount Carmel meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Mount Carmel runs into the built-up area around Kingsport (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$179,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Hawkins County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$68,866U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
91%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,265 a yearTennessee: $1,442
Homes built before 1940
4%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
86.4U.S. average = 100 (the Kingsport-Bristol metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Kingsport-Bristol metro area, not Mount Carmel alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
5,5402020: 5,422
Median age
47.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
23%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
6%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (27%); schools, health care and social services (18%); retail (13%)
Average commute
25 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
13%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
7%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center, Kingsport, TN, about 6 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Mount Carmel, run by Hawkins County and Kingsport. The nearest public high school is Volunteer High School, about 7 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Tennessee's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Weather

January average low
27°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
28 a year
Nights at or below freezing
83 a year
Rain and melted snow
45 inches a year
Snow
5 inches a year
Elevation
1,623 feet

Weather station: Kingsport (8 miles away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center, Kingsport, Knoxville.

Hawkins County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Andrew Johnson National Historic Site30 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail33 miles
  • Cumberland Gap National Historical Park43 miles
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park57 miles
  • Blue Ridge Parkway57 miles

Read about Mount Carmel's history on Wikipedia.

Know Mount Carmel?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Sullivan Gardens, TN (unincorporated)1,267 people, 7 miles
  • Fall Branch, TN (unincorporated)1,160 people, 11 miles
  • Orebank, TN (unincorporated)816 people, 11 miles
  • Hiltons, VA (unincorporated)217 people, 13 miles
  • Gray, TN (unincorporated)2,237 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.