Watauga is a city in Carter and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 403 at the 2000 census, 458 at the 2010 census, 361 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region.