Office Manager salary in Chattanooga, TN-GA

Pay in Chattanooga against Tennessee and the US

Office managers at the 90th percentile earn $99,990, 2.3 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.3. The middle half of office managers in Chattanooga earns $50,840–$81,510. The mean ($69,870) 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 $30,670 wide, between the figure for Tennessee ($32,470) and the US figure ($29,140).

What to budget for an office manager here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $13,310 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $17,360, or about $22,400 once benefits are added. 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 $69,500 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Chattanooga, and the Tennessee statewide median of $66,390 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Chattanooga

At the $64,150 median, a local hire costs about $82,774 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $18,624 here. 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 office managers 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 Chattanooga

Of the 17 roles we track in Chattanooga, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between executive assistants ($64,680) and recruiters ($61,660). Project Coordinator is the highest at $87,240.

Measured against the US median, office managers rank #6 of the 17 roles we track in Chattanooga (-7.7%), between bookkeepers (-7.4%) and virtual receptionists (-7.7%). The typical role here is at -11.0%, so, measured against the US, office managers cost more in Chattanooga than the area's general pay level would suggest. Office managers hold 13.7% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Chattanooga, 13.7% across Tennessee and 9.1% 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 $59,040 in the East Tennessee nonmetro area to $73,060 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $14,020 a year. Of the 3 areas in Tennessee with more office managers than Chattanooga, 1 pays less: Knoxville, TN ($63,580).

Chattanooga against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Chattanooga is #69 of 517 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Tennessee, Lebanon and Birmingham pay just above Chattanooga and Elmira and Cheyenne just below. All four are within $40 a year of the median in Chattanooga. Of the three markets with about as many office managers, two pay more.

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Sources

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