Hamilton County · Tennessee
Chattanooga, TN jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Chattanooga, TN earn a median of $40,081 a year, 10% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 4.9% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 21.3% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $40,081#67 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 64.3%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 90,692Civilian employed, age 16+
What Chattanooga does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance21.3%
- Manufacturing12.9%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food12%
- Retail trade11%
- Professional, scientific & management11%
- Finance, insurance & real estate8.3%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities7.1%
- Construction5.9%
- Other services, except public administration4.7%
- Public administration2.4%
- Wholesale trade1.8%
- Information1.1%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.5%
Related data for Chattanooga
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.