PAINTER PAY
IN TENNESSEE.
Tennessee painters earn a median of $19.57/hr (BLS 2024). 3,630 workers employed statewide. Compare market wages, federal prevailing rates, and per-diem baselines below.
Active Wage Determinations · Tennessee
120 active Davis-Bacon Wage Determinations cover Tennessee. Each WD sets the legal minimum wage (base + fringe by trade classification) on federally-funded construction in the counties it applies to. Showing the 12 most recently modified — click through for the per-trade rates on sam.gov.
Per-trade rates (the actual $/hr for painters by county) are published on the SAM.gov detail page for each WD. Browse all 120 Tennessee Wage Determinations on sam.gov. If a contractor on a federal job is paying below the WD, file a WH-3 with DOL WHD.
Lodging + M&IE by City
The federal government's per-diem rate is the baseline most contractors use. If your job's per diem is below this, you're subsidizing the contractor.
What are workers actually earning?
Government data is a baseline. Real take-home pay — including per diem, OT rules, housing allowances — comes from workers on the ground. Submit your pay anonymously to help the next hand.
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