High paying construction jobs in Knoxville, TN

Every construction occupation below is ranked by its median annual wage in Knoxville, TN. Read the percentile range, not just the median: the gap between the 10th and 90th inside a single construction job is usually wider than the gap between two different ones, so where you land in a field matters more than which field you pick.

Cost of living: prices in Knoxville, TN run 7.4% below the national average (2024), so a Knoxville, TN salary is worth about 1.08× its face value in national terms. That scales every wage here by the same factor — it changes what the numbers mean, not their order.

Local wage estimates are suppressed more often than state ones — BLS withholds any figure too few local employers report — so an occupation missing here simply has no published local estimate.

Wages: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Cost of living: BEA regional price parities, 2024

Find construction jobs in Knoxville, TN

OccupationMedian, Knoxville, TN · Employed

1Hazardous Materials Removal Workers$75,280
High school diploma or equivalent
$40,230 – $113,050230
2First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers$66,830
High school diploma or equivalent
$44,810 – $104,5202,680
3Sheet Metal Workers$61,340
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,140 – $77,290270
4Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$59,860
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,940 – $79,5601,700
5Electricians$58,640
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,020 – $79,5302,170
6Construction and Building Inspectors$58,150
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,520 – $82,540440
7Carpenters$50,400
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,600 – $70,1001,280
8Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$48,690
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,790 – $78,5201,210
9Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall$48,380
No formal educational credential
$35,740 – $69,870170
10Construction Laborers$46,130
No formal educational credential
$35,640 – $66,6303,640
11Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$45,970
No formal educational credential
$34,850 – $59,680550
12Roofers$45,030
No formal educational credential
$32,180 – $51,190440
13Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$44,550
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,970 – $48,210180
14Highway Maintenance Workers$44,110
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,040 – $57,270330
15Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators$40,540
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,440 – $60,090270
16Painters, Construction and Maintenance$40,420
No formal educational credential
$34,700 – $59,130400
17Helpers--Electricians$38,250
High school diploma or equivalent
$31,060 – $45,780370

Bars run from the 10th to the 90th percentile; the middle half is shaded darker, and the tick is the median.

#	Occupation	MedianKnoxville, TN	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	Hazardous Materials Removal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$75,280	$40,230 – $113,050	230
2	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$66,830	$44,810 – $104,520	2,680
3	Sheet Metal WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$61,340	$39,140 – $77,290	270
4	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,860	$38,940 – $79,560	1,700
5	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$58,640	$38,020 – $79,530	2,170
6	Construction and Building InspectorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$58,150	$39,520 – $82,540	440
7	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$50,400	$36,600 – $70,100	1,280
8	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,690	$41,790 – $78,520	1,210
9	Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and WallNo formal educational credential	$48,380	$35,740 – $69,870	170
10	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$46,130	$35,640 – $66,630	3,640
11	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$45,970	$34,850 – $59,680	550
12	RoofersNo formal educational credential	$45,030	$32,180 – $51,190	440
13	Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,550	$36,970 – $48,210	180
14	Highway Maintenance WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$44,110	$38,040 – $57,270	330
15	Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$40,540	$37,440 – $60,090	270
16	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$40,420	$34,700 – $59,130	400
17	Helpers--ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$38,250	$31,060 – $45,780	370

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Knoxville, TN. The rarer ones are real jobs — but a 1,190-person occupation at the top of a list answers a different question than the one most readers are asking.

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The same fields, narrowed to what you can enter without one. Fields missing here have too few such occupations in Knoxville, TN to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Knoxville, TN

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