Customer Support Specialist salary in Johnson City, TN

Pay in Johnson City against Tennessee and the US

The middle half of customer support specialists in Johnson City earns $35,030–$43,990. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $49,060, only 1.7 times the bottom tenth, against 2.0 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($39,750) is 9% 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 $8,960 wide, against $12,540 across Tennessee and $14,910 nationally: employers in Johnson City pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a customer support specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $7,420 over the median, the 25th only $1,540 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $9,574 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 Johnson City, 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 Johnson City

At the $36,570 median, a local hire costs about $47,187 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $10,617 here. 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 3.6 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 Johnson City

Of the 17 roles we track in Johnson City, this one ranks #13 by median pay, between administrative assistants ($40,060) and medical administrative assistants ($36,570). Project Coordinator is the highest at $78,100.

Measured against the US median, customer support specialists rank #6 of the 17 roles we track in Johnson City (-18.3%), between virtual receptionists (-18.0%) and recruiters (-18.7%). The typical role here is at -19.8%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Customer support specialists hold 20.8% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Johnson City, 16.5% across Tennessee and 16.4% 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 $36,130 in Kingsport-Bristol to $45,510 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $9,380 a year. Of the 5 areas in Tennessee with more customer support specialists than Johnson City, 1 pays less: Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA ($36,130).

Johnson City against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Johnson City is #188 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, Homosassa Springs and Rome pay just above Johnson City and Myrtle Beach-Conway and Lexington Park just below. All four are within $130 a year of the median in Johnson City. Of the three markets with about as many customer support specialists, all three pay more.

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Sources

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