Sales Development Representative salary in Knoxville, TN

Pay in Knoxville against Tennessee and the US

The middle half of sales development representatives in Knoxville earns $41,690–$76,740. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $103,370, only 3.0 times the bottom tenth, against 3.9 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($64,760) 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 $35,050 wide, against $38,320 across Tennessee and $52,810 nationally: employers in Knoxville pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a sales development representative here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $17,340 a year in pay and about $22,374 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $17,710 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 $69,990 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Knoxville, and the Tennessee statewide median of $60,230 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Knoxville

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 $17,245 to the $59,400 median and brings it to $76,645 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 sales development representatives 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 Knoxville

Of the 17 roles we track in Knoxville, this one ranks #7 by median pay, between marketing specialists ($62,890) and payroll specialists ($52,910). Project Coordinator is the highest at $91,690.

Measured against the US median, sales development representatives rank #14 of the 17 roles we track in Knoxville (-15.1%), between e-commerce order specialists (-14.8%) and medical administrative assistants (-16.4%). The typical role here is at -11.0%, so, measured against the US, sales development representatives cost less in Knoxville than the area's general pay level would suggest. Sales development representatives hold 5.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Knoxville, 6.0% across Tennessee and 7.9% 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 $37,870 in the East Tennessee nonmetro area to $62,930 in Nashville-Murfreesboro, a gap of $25,060 a year. Of the 2 areas in Tennessee with more sales development representatives than Knoxville, 1 pays less: Memphis, TN-MS ($59,140).

Knoxville against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Knoxville is #73 of 518 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, Allentown-Bethlehem and Springfield pay just above Knoxville and Columbus and State College just below. All four are within $140 a year of the median in Knoxville. Of the three markets with about as many sales development representatives, two pay more.

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Sources

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