Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders salary in Tennessee
SOC 51-9196 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $46,920 median has purchasing power comparable to about $51,072 nationally. Tennessee's BEA regional price parity is 91.9 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for Tennessee.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in Tennessee
Every linked area below has a published estimate for paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | $51,140 | 92.2 | 470 | 1.25× |
| 2 | Chattanooga, TN-GA | $50,330 | 91.5 | 320 | 1.92× |
| 3 | Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN | $47,650 | 96.3 | 530 | 0.78× |
| 4 | Knoxville, TN | $46,920 | 92.6 | 480 | 1.84× |
| 5 | Clarksville, TN-KY | $46,150 | 90.9 | 160 | 2.56× |
| 6 | Jackson, TN | $45,900 | 85.5 | 420 | 8.11× |
| 7 | Morristown, TN | $36,330 | 86.4 | 60 | 2.10× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where paper goods machine setters, operators, and tenders wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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