Customer Support Specialist salary in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

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

Customer support specialists at the 90th percentile earn $53,040, 2.0 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.0. The middle half of customer support specialists in the East Tennessee nonmetro area earns $31,480–$44,400. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $12,920 wide, between the figure for Tennessee ($12,540) and the US figure ($14,910).

What to budget for a customer support specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $7,890 over the median, the 25th only $5,030 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $10,181 a year in employer cost. 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 $44,770 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, and the Tennessee statewide median of $42,830 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local customer support specialists 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 $10,600 to the $36,510 median and brings it to $47,110 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

Our open customer support specialist roles pay $700–$1,000 a month under a direct contract. The one-time fee is $2,500³ with a 180-day replacement; paying through Deel adds $49 a month⁴. Change any number below to match your plan.

A local hire here costs about 3.5 times as much as a remote hire in year one at the midpoint of our range. From year two, when the fee drops out, it is 4.4 times the remote figure of $10,788. About the candidates: most apply through our assessment platform with a written and a spoken English task; each profile shows the English level (B1–C2); Silkstaff interviews every shortlisted candidate live, in English, before you meet them.

Other roles in the East Tennessee nonmetro area

Of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, this one ranks #14 by median pay, between sales development representatives ($37,870) and medical administrative assistants ($36,230). Project Coordinator is the highest at $88,910.

Measured against the US median, customer support specialists rank #11 of the 17 roles we track in the East Tennessee nonmetro area (-18.4%), between accountants (-17.8%) and recruiters (-18.6%). The typical role here is at -17.0%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Customer support specialists hold 17.8% of the jobs in the 16 of these roles with a job count in the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 19.1% across Tennessee and 18.0% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Tennessee

Across the 14 areas of Tennessee with data for this job, the median runs from $36,130 in Kingsport-Bristol to $45,510 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $9,380 a year. Of the 7 areas in Tennessee with more customer support specialists than the East Tennessee nonmetro area, 1 pays less: Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA ($36,130).

the East Tennessee nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Tennessee nonmetro area is #233 of 520 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Tennessee, Myrtle Beach-Conway and Homosassa Springs pay just above the East Tennessee nonmetro area and Lexington Park and Paducah just below. All four are within $120 a year of the median in the East Tennessee nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many customer support specialists, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

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