Statewide pay Government data
Telecom line installers in Tennessee earn a statewide median of $63,510 a year, 4% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #29 of 50 states and DC. About 2,620 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Tennessee
See all states on the telecom line installers nationwide.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes telecom line installer pay for 7 Tennessee metros. The highest-paying is Kingsport at $73,830, followed by Nashville and Memphis.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| KingsportTENNESSEE · TN | $73,830 | $85,405 | 190 |
| NashvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $64,190 | $66,630 | 880 |
| MemphisTENNESSEE · TN | $63,640 | $69,040 | 340 |
| KnoxvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $59,970 | $64,784 | 310 |
| JacksonTENNESSEE · TN | $59,160 | $69,175 | 120 |
| ChattanoogaTENNESSEE · TN | $58,870 | $64,364 | 230 |
| ClarksvilleTENNESSEE · TN | $57,610 | $63,345 | 60 |
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)
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,000 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, telecom line installers have 379 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 4.4× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
What the work is like Government data
How often telecom line installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Registered apprenticeships Government data
Of telecom line installer apprentices in Tennessee who finished or left a registered program in fiscal years 2020–2024, 72% completed (U.S.: 54%), about 31 graduates a year. The typical program runs 8,000 hours, about 4 years of full-time work. Union programs had a 71% completion rate, compared with 73% for non-union programs. 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.
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 telecom line installers.
Official Tennessee licensing site ↗
Requirements for telecom line installers 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 telecom line installers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Tennessee
All trades in Tennessee.