Bristol, Virginia demographics

Bristol, VA demographics: median age 43.4; 24.8% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Bristol city, Virginia · Incorporated city · GEOID 5109816. The survey estimates a population of 16,849 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Bristol is 43.4 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.7 years. There are 7,226 households (±292). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	43.4 ±0.7	39.0 ±0.1	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 16,849
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Under 18	3,305 ±299	19.6% MOE unavailable	21.7%	22.0%
18–34	3,359 ±346	19.9% MOE unavailable	22.8%	22.8%
35–64	6,199 ±454	36.8% MOE unavailable	38.8%	38.0%
65 and older	3,986 ±392	23.7% MOE unavailable	16.7%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 16,849
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Male	8,284 ±168	49.2% MOE unavailable	49.4%	49.5%
Female	8,565 ±168	50.8% MOE unavailable	50.6%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 16,849
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
White alone	14,334 ±342	85.1% MOE unavailable	60.2%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	969 ±270	5.8% MOE unavailable	18.6%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% MOE unavailable	0.4%	0.9%
Asian alone	76 ±90 · low precision	0.5% MOE unavailable	6.9%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	13 ±22 · low precision	0.1% MOE unavailable	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race alone	390 ±263 · low precision	2.3% MOE unavailable	4.4%	7.1%
Two or more races	1,067 ±319	6.3% MOE unavailable	9.5%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 16,849
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	16,384 MOE unavailable	97.2% MOE unavailable	89.0%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	465 MOE unavailable	2.8% MOE unavailable	11.0%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 7,226
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Married-couple family	2,446 ±363	33.8% ±4.8 pp	48.7%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	439 ±169	6.1% ±2.3 pp	4.6%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	1,210 ±274	16.7% ±3.7 pp	11.6%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	2,840 ±364	39.3% ±4.8 pp	28.5%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	291 ±127	4.0% ±1.7 pp	6.7%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 7,226
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Households with people under 18	1,667 ±225	23.1% ±3.0 pp	30.2%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	5,559 ±379	76.9% ±4.2 pp	69.8%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 7,226
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	2,840 ±364	39.3% ±4.8 pp	28.5%	28.7%
Two-person households	2,325 ±333	32.2% ±4.4 pp	34.0%	33.8%
Three-person households	1,123 ±226	15.5% ±3.1 pp	15.7%	15.3%
Four-person households	608 ±167	8.4% ±2.3 pp	12.9%	12.6%
Five-person households	110 ±83 · low precision	1.5% ±1.1 pp · low precision	5.6%	5.9%
Six-person households	160 ±115 · low precision	2.2% ±1.6 pp · low precision	2.1%	2.2%
Seven or more people	60 ±54 · low precision	0.8% ±0.7 pp · low precision	1.2%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 16,849
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Native	16,470 ±219	97.8% MOE unavailable	86.9%	85.9%
Foreign born	379 ±219 · low precision	2.2% MOE unavailable	13.1%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 16,053
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
English only	15,482 ±245	96.4% ±1.5 pp	82.6%	77.7%
Spanish	266 ±140 · low precision	1.7% ±0.9 pp · low precision	7.9%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	7 ±12 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	1 ±4 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	50 ±74 · low precision	0.3% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	164 ±213 · low precision	1.0% ±1.3 pp · low precision	2.6%	2.0%
Korean	51 ±80 · low precision	0.3% ±0.5 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.7%	1.1%
Vietnamese	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.6%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	7 ±9 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	1.2%	1.1%
Arabic	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.8%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	25 ±37 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	1.1%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 12,256
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	1,185 ±258	9.7% ±2.1 pp	8.4%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	4,384 ±585	35.8% ±4.8 pp	23.9%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	2,755 ±441	22.5% ±3.6 pp	17.7%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	889 ±242	7.3% ±2.0 pp	7.8%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	1,909 ±314	15.6% ±2.6 pp	23.7%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	1,134 ±281	9.3% ±2.3 pp	18.5%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 16,786
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Virginia	U.S.
Same house	14,347 ±494	85.5% ±2.9 pp	86.9%	87.7%
Moved within same county	701 ±336	4.2% ±2.0 pp	4.6%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	926 ±335	5.5% ±2.0 pp	4.7%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	812 ±278	4.8% ±1.7 pp	3.1%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	0 ±21 · low precision	0.0% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.7%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

11.0% of Bristol residents (±2.2 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 6.9% in Virginia and 8.4% nationally. 74.8% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Bristol	Virginia	U.S.	Compared with Virginia
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	11.0% ±2.2 pp	6.9%	8.4%	Higher
Households with a broadband subscription Households	74.8% ±4.6 pp	91.0%	91.0%	Lower
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	7.4% ±1.4 pp	9.4%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Bristol . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Bristol housing and cost context or return to the city profile.