High paying construction jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA with no degree

The best paid construction occupations in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA that require no bachelor's degree — a high school diploma, a certificate, or an associate's degree is the typical entry. This is the narrowest cut on the site, so it is also the shortest list: where a field has only two or three such occupations, there is no page at all rather than a page pretending otherwise.

Cost of living: prices in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA run 13.6% below the national average (2024), so a Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA salary is worth about 1.16× 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 Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA

OccupationMedian, Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA · Employed

1First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers$69,610
High school diploma or equivalent
$47,770 – $102,350730
2Electricians$60,070
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,420 – $76,630760
3Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$59,360
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,210 – $77,370290
4Brickmasons and Blockmasons$57,450
High school diploma or equivalent
$44,550 – $77,76060
5Construction and Building Inspectors$56,820
High school diploma or equivalent
$39,400 – $77,830110
6Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$55,960
High school diploma or equivalent
$41,010 – $76,390770
7Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining$49,430
High school diploma or equivalent
$38,630 – $60,39040
8Carpenters$48,340
High school diploma or equivalent
$36,320 – $64,270390
9Highway Maintenance Workers$48,310
High school diploma or equivalent
$37,580 – $57,270140
10Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers$45,670
No formal educational credential
$33,410 – $64,81040
11Construction Laborers$45,370
No formal educational credential
$33,890 – $66,2401,430
12Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters$43,350
High school diploma or equivalent
$35,020 – $49,84060
13Helpers--Electricians$43,120
High school diploma or equivalent
$30,940 – $62,400150
14Pipelayers$42,990
No formal educational credential
$35,810 – $59,590100
15Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers$42,830
No formal educational credential
$34,580 – $61,91090
16Painters, Construction and Maintenance$39,750
No formal educational credential
$32,210 – $57,050120
17Roofers$39,720
No formal educational credential
$35,230 – $57,50090
18Helpers, Construction Trades, All Other$39,260
No formal educational credential
$36,140 – $46,11040

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

#	Occupation	MedianKingsport-Bristol, TN-VA	10th–90th percentilemiddle half shaded darker	Employed
1	First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$69,610	$47,770 – $102,350	730
2	ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$60,070	$37,420 – $76,630	760
3	Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$59,360	$38,210 – $77,370	290
4	Brickmasons and BlockmasonsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$57,450	$44,550 – $77,760	60
5	Construction and Building InspectorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$56,820	$39,400 – $77,830	110
6	Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment OperatorsHigh school diploma or equivalent	$55,960	$41,010 – $76,390	770
7	Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface MiningHigh school diploma or equivalent	$49,430	$38,630 – $60,390	40
8	CarpentersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,340	$36,320 – $64,270	390
9	Highway Maintenance WorkersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$48,310	$37,580 – $57,270	140
10	Drywall and Ceiling Tile InstallersNo formal educational credential	$45,670	$33,410 – $64,810	40
11	Construction LaborersNo formal educational credential	$45,370	$33,890 – $66,240	1,430
12	Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and SteamfittersHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,350	$35,020 – $49,840	60
13	Helpers--ElectriciansHigh school diploma or equivalent	$43,120	$30,940 – $62,400	150
14	PipelayersNo formal educational credential	$42,990	$35,810 – $59,590	100
15	Cement Masons and Concrete FinishersNo formal educational credential	$42,830	$34,580 – $61,910	90
16	Painters, Construction and MaintenanceNo formal educational credential	$39,750	$32,210 – $57,050	120
17	RoofersNo formal educational credential	$39,720	$35,230 – $57,500	90
18	Helpers, Construction Trades, All OtherNo formal educational credential	$39,260	$36,140 – $46,110	40

Ranked among the occupations common enough to employ roughly one in every three thousand workers in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA. 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 Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA to rank honestly.

High paying construction jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA with no degree

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