How are Tennessee Electrician salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Electrician pay scale look like in Tennessee?

The 90th percentile lands at $80,800. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $68,240.

Why is the BEA RPP for Tennessee different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Tennessee's overall index of 92.1 reflects rents 77.9, services 76.4, and goods 94.3.

Where does Tennessee rank for Electrician pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Tennessee ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Tennessee?

P10 to P90 spans $38,360 to $80,800. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Tennessee?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Tennessee.

How long is the electrician apprenticeship in Tennessee?

Tennessee typically requires 4 years (8,000 hours) of supervised on-the-job training plus classroom hours before the journeyman exam. Apprenticeship pay starts at roughly 40-50% of journeyman scale and steps up annually. Many Tennessee apprentices reach full journeyman pay 5-6 years after starting.

Electrician Pay in Tennessee: $59K Median + Purchasing Power (2026)

TL;DR

Tennessee pays Electricians a BLS median of $59,190 — the more useful number is $64,271, what that paycheck buys after rent and services.
Wage envelope: $38,360 (P10) to $80,800 (P90), with quartiles at $47,220 and $68,240.
Below-100 RPP flips this state above its nominal rank in real-wage terms; the gap is about $5,081.
State ranks #41 nationally on nominal wage, #35 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.

Wage breakdown — Tennessee

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$38,360	$41,653
P25 (lower quartile)	$47,220	$51,274
P50 (median)	$59,190	$64,271
P75 (upper quartile)	$68,240	$74,098
P90 (top tier)	$80,800	$87,736
Mean	$59,530	$64,640
Employment	19,500 Electricians in Tennessee

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Tennessee index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	92.1
Goods	94.3
Services	76.4
Rents	77.9

Tennessee sits below the national baseline (RPP 92.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 77.9.

After-tax take-home — Tennessee (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Electrician)	$59,190	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$4,965	8.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	$0	no state income tax (Hall tax repealed 2021)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,528	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$49,697	84.0% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$53,964	÷ (92.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Tennessee state-tax burden means for Electrician take-home

Tennessee levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $2,960 a year for a Electrician at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After the favorable cost of living, real take-home is $53,964 — higher than the nominal after-tax figure because RPP is below 100.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $62,350 for Electricians with mean pay of $69,630 and total employment of 742,580. Tennessee sits at #41 on nominal pay and #35 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Tennessee climbs 6 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How are Tennessee Electrician salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Electrician pay scale look like in Tennessee?: The 90th percentile lands at $80,800. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $68,240.
Why is the BEA RPP for Tennessee different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Tennessee's overall index of 92.1 reflects rents 77.9, services 76.4, and goods 94.3.
Where does Tennessee rank for Electrician pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Tennessee ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Tennessee?: P10 to P90 spans $38,360 to $80,800. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Tennessee?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Tennessee.
How long is the electrician apprenticeship in Tennessee?: Tennessee typically requires 4 years (8,000 hours) of supervised on-the-job training plus classroom hours before the journeyman exam. Apprenticeship pay starts at roughly 40-50% of journeyman scale and steps up annually. Many Tennessee apprentices reach full journeyman pay 5-6 years after starting.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 47-2111, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Tennessee Electrician pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.