Do carpenters make more in Knoxville or Nashville?

Nashville pays more: the median is $50,400 in Knoxville and $55,770 in Nashville, a 10% difference.

Carpenter salary in Knoxville, TN

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Carpenters in the Knoxville, TN area earn a median of $50,400 a year, or $24.23 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $70,100. That's 1% less than the Tennessee median of $50,830.

Median yearly pay$50,400

Bottom 10% under$36,600Top 10% over$70,100

Apprentice starting pay (estimate): $17.60/hr
Jobs in this area: 1,280
After cost of living: $54,450
Median hourly pay: $24.23/hr
vs U.S. median: −17%
vs Tennessee median: −1%
Mean (average) pay: $53,520 a year · $25.73 an hour

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 28940, Knoxville, TN). Excludes self-employed carpenters. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What carpenters in Knoxville, TN earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

Percentile	Hourly	Yearly
10th percentile	$17.60	$36,600
25th percentile	$22.11	$45,980
Median (50th)	$24.23	$50,400
75th percentile	$28.56	$59,400
90th percentile	$33.70	$70,100

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Knoxville, TN compares

Knoxville ranks 4th of 10 Tennessee metro areas for carpenter pay.
Carpenters are less concentrated in the Knoxville area than nationally: 3.0 of every 1,000 jobs, 0.70 times the U.S. share.

Other Tennessee metro areas

Other trades in Knoxville, TN

Electrician HVAC technician Welder Lineman Plumber Diesel mechanic Heavy equipment operator Auto mechanic Roofer Ironworker Millwright Boilermaker

Questions

Do carpenters make more in Knoxville or Nashville?: Nashville pays more: the median is $50,400 in Knoxville and $55,770 in Nashville, a 10% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2031 (Carpenters), area code 28940 (Knoxville, TN). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed carpenters and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (92.6, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures