Piney Flats is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Sullivan County in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. It is part of the Kingsport

Kingsport, Tennessee

Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...

–Bristol (TN)

Bristol, Tennessee

Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundaries of both cities run parallel to each other along State...

–Bristol (VA)

Bristol, Virginia

Bristol is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Washington County, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee, and Sullivan County, Tennessee....

 Metropolitan Statistical Area

Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA MSA

The Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area is a Metropolitan Statistical Area in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget...

, which is a component of the Johnson City

Johnson City, Tennessee

Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...

–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 Combined Statistical Area

Combined Statistical Area

The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...

 – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities

Tri-Cities, Tennessee

In Tennessee and Virginia the name "Tri-Cities" refers to the region comprising the cities of Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol and the surrounding smaller towns and communities in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia...

" region.

Education

Piney Flats has an elementary and middle school named "Mary Hughes School." The school operates under the Sullivan County Board of Education and educates students from kindergarten to eighth grade. Upon completion at Mary Hughes, students will enter high school at Sullivan East High School.