Statewide pay Government data
Maintenance technicians in Tennessee earn a statewide median of $47,240 a year, 2% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #39 of 50 states and DC. About 35,790 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Tennessee
See all states on the maintenance technicians nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes maintenance technician pay for 10 Tennessee metros. The highest-paying is Nashville at $48,780, followed by Morristown and Memphis.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| NashvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $48,780 | $50,634 | 11,040 |
| MorristownTENNESSEE · TN | $48,720 | $56,412 | 710 |
| MemphisTENNESSEE · TN | $48,140 | $52,224 | 6,250 |
| JacksonTENNESSEE · TN | $48,080 | $56,219 | 1,040 |
| ChattanoogaTENNESSEE · TN | $47,170 | $51,572 | 2,840 |
| ClarksvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $46,970 | $51,645 | 1,140 |
| KingsportTENNESSEE · TN | $46,520 | $53,813 | 1,430 |
| KnoxvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $46,170 | $49,876 | 4,640 |
| ClevelandTENNESSEE · TN | $45,830 | $52,032 | 450 |
| Johnson CityTENNESSEE · TN | $44,290 | $50,371 | 810 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Tennessee's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair. Duties may involve pipe fitting; HVAC maintenance; insulating; welding; machining; carpentry; repairing electrical or mechanical equipment; installing, aligning, and balancing new equipment; and repairing buildings, floors, or stairs.
Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4.2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 148,700 openings a year. Typical training: moderate-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, maintenance technicians have 212 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 2.5× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is being struck by or caught in objects and equipment.
What the work is like Government data
How often maintenance technicians deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes medium preparation (vocational training or an apprenticeship, often 1–2+ years).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of maintenance technician apprentices in Tennessee who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 72% completed (U.S.: 52%), about 7 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Search open registered programs near you on the official Apprenticeship Finder.
U.S. Department of Labor, RAPIDS apprentice records (Completion Rate Analysis), FY2020–2024 exits.
Where to train in Tennessee Government data
26 schools in Tennessee offer heavy and industrial equipment maintenance programs below the bachelor's level, 24 of them at public colleges. Many people in this trade learn through an apprenticeship instead; a program can shorten it or get you hired as a helper.
Where published, graduates earned a median of $51,780 in their first year out.
| School | Credential | Yearly cost | Recent grads | First-year pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nashville Auto-Diesel College Nashville, TN · Private for-profit | Certificate | $39,932 | 134 | $52,302 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology Northwest Newbern, TN · Public | Certificate | $14,950 | 69 | $56,646 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Shelbyville Shelbyville, TN · Public | Certificate | $14,043 | 67 | $65,164 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Dickson Dickson, TN · Public | Certificate | $16,426 | 49 | $64,002 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Morristown Morristown, TN · Public | Certificate | $14,319 | 39 | $50,490 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Jackson Jackson, TN · Public | Certificate | $14,715 | 31 | — |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Hohenwald Hohenwald, TN · Public | Certificate | $20,488 | 31 | $46,971 |
| Tennessee College of Applied Technology-Murfreesboro Murfreesboro, TN · Public | Certificate | $13,359 | 31 | $77,216 |
U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (data updated October 2026). Cost is the school's average yearly cost of attendance before financial aid; earnings are the median for graduates one year after finishing, shown only where the school has enough graduates to publish. “—” means not published.
Licensing in Tennessee Official source
The main state licensing office in Tennessee is the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors. It can point you to the right license for maintenance technicians.
Official Tennessee licensing site ↗
Requirements for maintenance technicians vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 4.8% of wage and salary workers in Tennessee were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#42 of 51 states and D.C.), and 5.7% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only maintenance technicians.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Tennessee
All trades in Tennessee.