Accountant salary in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

Pay in the East Tennessee nonmetro area against Tennessee and the US

The middle half of accountants in the East Tennessee nonmetro area earns $56,640–$82,920. The top tenth earns $114,890 or more, 2.7 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.6 times. The mean ($74,570) is 8% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $26,280 wide, against $32,360 across Tennessee and $42,790 nationally: employers in the East Tennessee nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for an accountant here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $14,140 a year in pay and about $18,245 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $12,140 in pay. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $83,680 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, and the Tennessee statewide median of $76,840 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local accountants earn.

What a hire really costs in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $19,968 to the $68,780 median and brings it to $88,748 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for accountants we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, this one ranks #2 by median pay, after project coordinators ($88,910); recruiters come next at $61,810.

Measured against the US median, accountants rank #10 of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area (-17.8%), between administrative assistants (-17.0%) and customer support specialists (-18.4%). The typical role here is at -17.0%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Accountants hold 7.0% of the jobs in the 16 of these roles with a job count in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 8.7% across Tennessee and 10.0% nationally. The job is a smaller part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Tennessee

Across the 14 areas of Tennessee with data for this job, the median runs from $64,710 in Johnson City to $78,080 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $13,370 a year. All 6 areas in Tennessee with more accountants than the East Tennessee nonmetro area also pay more, among them Nashville-Murfreesboro, TN ($78,080) and Memphis, TN-MS ($76,960).

the East Tennessee nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Tennessee nonmetro area is #313 of 521 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Tennessee, Columbia and Texarkana pay just above the East Tennessee nonmetro area and Enid and Grand Island just below. All four are within $690 a year of the median in the East Tennessee nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many accountants, all three pay more.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.