County Maps US

Bristol city, Virginia

An independent city in Virginia, ranked 92 of 133 by population.

Independent cityFIPS 51520

Within Virginia
Bristol city, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Bristol city, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
16,418
-903 (-5.2%) since 2020
Land area
12.9
square miles. A further 0.9% of the total area is water
Population density
1,275
people per square mile, computed rather than published
Seat
Bristol city
Bristol city is its own seat.
Established
1856
169 years ago
Largest city
Bristol city
Population 16,418.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Bristol city with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Bristol city, Virginia from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 627 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Bristol city ranks

Position among the 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn VirginiaNationally
Population16,41892nd of 1332,011th of 3,144
Land area12.9 sq mi114th of 1333,124th of 3,144
Population density1,275 per sq mi31st of 133125th of 3,144
Median household income$50,404120th of 1332,751st of 3,143

Full data for Bristol city

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population16,418Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 202017,321Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?17,242Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area12.9 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area0.12 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area13.0 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?1,275 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$50,404American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$184,100American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age43.4American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households7,226American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units8,641American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
-179
141 births, 320 deaths
Net migration
+143
More people moved in than moved out.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 2 areas bordering Bristol city

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
Washington CountyVirginia26 mi53,898
Sullivan CountyTennessee5.5 mi163,759

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

All 133 counties and independent cities of Virginia

Open the interactive Virginia county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.