How much does a painter charge per hour in Tennessee?
Typical painter rate, Tennessee
$51/hr
Most painters in Tennessee charge $44 to $56 an hour. A full 8-hour day runs about $408.
Updated October 2026 · Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
How we got $51
| Median painter wage in Tennessee | $20.78 |
|---|---|
| × 1.4 payroll taxes, workers' comp, insurance | $29.09 |
| ÷ 0.8 for hours nobody gets billed (driving, supply runs, estimates) | $36.36 |
| × 1.4 overhead (truck, tools, office) and profit | $50.91 |
| Typical rate | $51/hr |
What painters earn in Tennessee
| Pay level | Wage | Charges about |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level (10th percentile) | $16.88 | $41/hr |
| 25th percentile | $17.96 | $44/hr |
| Median (middle) | $20.78 | $51/hr |
| 75th percentile | $23.03 | $56/hr |
| Top earners (90th percentile) | $29.34 | $72/hr |
3,040 painters work in Tennessee. The middle earner makes $43,230 a year. Wages are from the BLS Painters, Construction and Maintenance category.
How Tennessee compares
Tennessee painters earn 13% below the U.S., ranking #48 of 51 states for painter pay (#1 pays the most). The typical U.S. rate is $58 an hour.
| State | Typical | Most charge |
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | $57/hr | $47 to $70 |
| Mississippi | $53/hr | $43 to $63 |
| Alabama | $52/hr | $44 to $59 |
| Tennessee | $51/hr | $44 to $56 |
| United States | $58/hr | $53 to $73 |
What drives painter prices
Painters usually quote by the room or by the square foot, but the hourly rate sits under those numbers. Prep (scraping, patching, caulking, masking) is where most of the hours go.
Common questions
How much does a painter charge per hour in Tennessee?
Most painters in Tennessee charge between $44 and $56 an hour, and about $51 is typical. A full 8-hour day runs about $408. These are estimates built from what painters earn in Tennessee (a median of $20.78 an hour, BLS May 2025), not quotes.
Why do painters charge so much more than they earn?
The wage is only part of the cost. On top of $20.78 an hour, the employer pays payroll taxes, workers' comp and insurance (about $29.09 in total), loses paid hours to driving, supply runs and estimates that nobody is billed for (about $36.36 per billed hour), and has to cover the truck, tools, office and a profit. That's how $20.78 becomes about $51.
What's the lowest rate a painter in Tennessee can charge without losing money?
About $36 an hour for a painter paid the Tennessee median. That covers pay, payroll taxes, insurance and unbilled time, but nothing for the truck, tools, office or profit, so a rate below it loses money on every hour.
Other trades in Tennessee
Rates are BidFlow estimates, not quotes. Each starts with the May 2025 wage from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, then multiplies by 1.4 for payroll taxes and insurance, divides by 0.8 for hours that can't be billed, and multiplies by 1.4 for overhead and profit. Updated October 2026. How we calculate
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