Bookkeeper salary in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

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

The middle half of bookkeepers in the East Tennessee nonmetro area earns $37,330–$53,420. The top tenth earns $63,340 or more, 2.0 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 2.1 times. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $16,090 wide, against $18,130 across Tennessee and $17,950 nationally: employers in the East Tennessee nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $7,870 a year in pay and about $10,155 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $8,220 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 $50,670 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, and the Tennessee statewide median of $48,180 falls there too.

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 $13,224 to the $45,550 median and brings it to $58,774 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 bookkeepers 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 #9 by median pay, between payroll specialists ($49,990) and HR assistants ($45,140). Project Coordinator is the highest at $88,910.

Measured against the US median, this job is the best paid of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area (-10.1%); sales development representatives come last (-45.9%). The typical role here is at -17.0%, so, measured against the US, bookkeepers cost more in the East Tennessee nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Bookkeepers hold 13.8% of the jobs in the 16 of these roles with a job count in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 12.0% across Tennessee and 9.5% nationally. The job is a bigger 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 $40,700 in Johnson City to $50,810 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $10,110 a year. Of the 5 areas in Tennessee with more bookkeepers than the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 1 pays less: the West Tennessee nonmetro area ($43,600).

the East Tennessee nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Tennessee nonmetro area is #229 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Tennessee, Lubbock and Rome pay just above the East Tennessee nonmetro area and Dover and Pocatello just below. All four are within $110 a year of the median in the East Tennessee nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, two pay more.

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Sources

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