- The middle half earn between $22.72 and $35.32 an hour.
- Tennessee ranks 41st of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Tennessee pays more than 4 of its 8 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 9,270 plumbers on payrolls in Tennessee.
- At the state median wage, a plumbing business needs to bill about $120.06 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Plumber pay in Tennessee, bottom to top
BLS counts plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters as one group, so the figures include industrial pipe work as well as service and new construction plumbing.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.52 | $38,520 | $21.22 |
| 25th percentile | $22.72 | $47,260 | $24.13 |
| Median | $28.17 | $58,600 | $30.67 |
| 75th percentile | $35.32 | $73,460 | $40.92 |
| 90th percentile | $39.43 | $82,020 | $52.13 |
| Average (mean) | $29.09 | $60,500 | $34.70 |
Pay is bunched up in Tennessee. The top tenth earn $39.43 an hour or more, about 2.1 times the $18.52 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.5 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 $2.70 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $12.70 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $29.09, 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 $58,600 is $5,200 less than the national $63,800.
In the state ranking, Tennessee sits 41st, between Alabama ($28.21) and Oklahoma ($27.87). The range runs from $23.39 in Arkansas to $48.57 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Tennessee is in the middle: Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia pay more, and Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina pay 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 | $28.17 | $58,600 | |
| Alabama | $28.21 | $58,670 | +$0.04 an hour |
| Arkansas | $23.39 | $48,660 | −$4.78 an hour |
| Georgia | $27.50 | $57,200 | −$0.67 an hour |
| Kentucky | $30.84 | $64,160 | +$2.67 an hour |
| Mississippi | $26.67 | $55,480 | −$1.50 an hour |
| Missouri | $32.11 | $66,790 | +$3.94 an hour |
| North Carolina | $27.44 | $57,080 | −$0.73 an hour |
| Virginia | $29.07 | $60,470 | +$0.90 an hour |
How many plumbers work in Tennessee
About 9,270 plumbers work on payrolls in Tennessee, 2.0% of the 465,840 nationwide, the 19th largest count among the states.
That is 2.8 of every 1,000 jobs in Tennessee, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a plumbing 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 plumbing business in Tennessee paying the state median of $28.17, 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 | $28.17 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $63,076 |
| Break-even rate | ($63,076 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.05 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.05 ÷ 0.85 | $120.06 |
That is $120.06 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $4.39 less than the $124.45 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $35.32 in Tennessee, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $132.62.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.72, the rate only drops to $110.49.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the plumbing labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a plumber in Tennessee
- Licensing. What Tennessee asks for before you can work on your own: Plumbing license in Tennessee.
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how plumbing 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 47-2152, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, 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: plumber salary by state.