Knox County · Tennessee
Knoxville, 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 Knoxville, TN earn a median of $33,286 a year, 25% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 4.4% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 23.9% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $33,286#88 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 63.5%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 98,269Civilian employed, age 16+
What Knoxville does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance23.9%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food13.8%
- Retail trade12.6%
- Professional, scientific & management12.1%
- Manufacturing7.5%
- Construction6.9%
- Finance, insurance & real estate6%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities4.9%
- Other services, except public administration4.7%
- Public administration2.8%
- Information2.3%
- Wholesale trade2.1%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.4%
Related data for Knoxville
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%.