- The middle half earn between $17.96 and $23.03 an hour.
- Tennessee is 48th of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Tennessee pays more than 1 of its 8 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 3,040 painters on payrolls in Tennessee.
- At the state median wage, a painting business needs to bill about $107.08 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Painter pay in Tennessee, bottom to top
These are BLS figures for painters in construction and maintenance: house painters, commercial painters and maintenance crews. Artists and auto painters are counted elsewhere.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $16.88 | $35,110 | $18.00 |
| 25th percentile | $17.96 | $37,350 | $21.46 |
| Median | $20.78 | $43,230 | $23.75 |
| 75th percentile | $23.03 | $47,900 | $29.65 |
| 90th percentile | $29.34 | $61,030 | $37.89 |
| Average (mean) | $21.44 | $44,590 | $26.64 |
Pay is bunched up in Tennessee. The top tenth earn $29.34 an hour or more, about 1.7 times the $16.88 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $1.12 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $8.55 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $21.44, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Tennessee compares with other states
Over a full year, the Tennessee median of $43,230 is $6,170 less than the national $49,400.
In the state ranking, Tennessee sits 48th, between Alabama ($21.12) and Rhode Island ($20.00). The range runs from $19.28 in Arkansas to $32.80 in Hawaii.
Against its neighboring states, Tennessee is in the middle: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia pay more, and Arkansas pays less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Tennessee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | $20.78 | $43,230 | |
| Alabama | $21.12 | $43,930 | +$0.34 an hour |
| Arkansas | $19.28 | $40,090 | −$1.50 an hour |
| Georgia | $23.24 | $48,340 | +$2.46 an hour |
| Kentucky | $23.13 | $48,110 | +$2.35 an hour |
| Mississippi | $21.54 | $44,800 | +$0.76 an hour |
| Missouri | $27.65 | $57,510 | +$6.87 an hour |
| North Carolina | $21.21 | $44,110 | +$0.43 an hour |
| Virginia | $22.82 | $47,470 | +$2.04 an hour |
How many painters work in Tennessee
About 3,040 painters work on payrolls in Tennessee, 1.3% of the 225,190 nationwide, the 25th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.9 per 1,000 jobs, 0.64 times the national share.
What a painting business in Tennessee should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a painting business in Tennessee paying the state median of $20.78, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $20.78 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $46,529 |
| Break-even rate | ($46,529 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $91.02 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $91.02 ÷ 0.85 | $107.08 |
That is $107.08 per billable hour, 5.2 times the wage, and $5.22 less than the $112.30 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $23.03 in Tennessee, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $111.03.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.96, the rate only drops to $102.13.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a painter in Tennessee
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how painting companies run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2141, painters, construction and maintenance, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: painter salary by state.