Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 86.4) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA moved from $43,800 in May 2024 to $45,240 in May 2025 (+3.3%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA sits +0.2 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
Registered Nurses publishes $76,730 here versus $97,550 nationally (-21.3%; 2,660metro-area jobs). Next is Customer Service Representatives at $36,130 locally versus $44,770 nationally (-19.3%).
- Registered Nurses$76,730 in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA sits 21.3% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (2,660 published local jobs).
- Customer Service Representatives$36,130 in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA sits 19.3% below the national Customer Service Representatives median of $44,770 (2,130 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$27,420 in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA sits 16.6% below the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (3,090 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$26,890 in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA sits 13.8% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (4,170 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 28700 · Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA $55K mean
MEAN-LOW · RPP-QUIET · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-LOW #361/528
- RPP-QUIET 86.4
- OCC-MID 347 occs
- TOP-LEAD Family Medicin… · $353K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE +0.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Southwest Montan…
- BOOK-FULL 346 rows · May 2025
Read with Southwest Montana nonmetropolitan area (+$0 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
Where Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA already employs the upper wage tier
Financial Managers and Nurse Practitioners lead published employment inside Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 500 jobs · $132,280
- 2. Nurse Practitioners 480 jobs · $118,470
- 3. Software Developers 430 jobs · $115,310
- 4. Industrial Production Managers 380 jobs · $133,240
- 5. Pharmacists 370 jobs · $133,270
- 6. Marketing Managers 360 jobs · $136,240
- 7. Computer and Information Systems Managers 330 jobs · $130,830
- 8. Lawyers 300 jobs · $107,560
- 9. Construction Managers 280 jobs · $116,980
- 10. Sales Managers 270 jobs · $132,950
- 11. Architectural and Engineering Managers 250 jobs · $138,550
- 12. Computer Network Architects 210 jobs · $131,420
- 13. Administrative Services Managers 190 jobs · $122,130
- 14. Family Medicine Physicians 150 jobs · $352,590
- 15. Human Resources Managers 150 jobs · $132,680
- 16. Physicians, All Other 140 jobs · $124,130
- 17. Physician Assistants 130 jobs · $117,490
- 18. Chief Executives 100 jobs · $189,410
Occupations Tracked
347
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$54,948
employment-weighted, 346 complete rows
Top Salary
$352,590
Family Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
86.4
14% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Managers | $132,280 |
| 2 | Nurse Practitioners | $118,470 |
| 3 | Software Developers | $115,310 |
| 4 | Industrial Production Managers | $133,240 |
| 5 | Pharmacists | $133,270 |
| 6 | Marketing Managers | $136,240 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $130,830 |
| 8 | Lawyers | $107,560 |
| 9 | Construction Managers | $116,980 |
| 10 | Sales Managers | $132,950 |
| 11 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $138,550 |
| 12 | Computer Network Architects | $131,420 |
| 13 | Administrative Services Managers | $122,130 |
| 14 | Family Medicine Physicians | $352,590 |
| 15 | Human Resources Managers | $132,680 |
| 16 | Physicians, All Other | $124,130 |
| 17 | Physician Assistants | $117,490 |
| 18 | Chief Executives | $189,410 |
| 19 | Dentists, General | $173,810 |
| 20 | Purchasing Managers | $130,490 |
| 21 | Engineers, All Other | $103,330 |
| 22 | Facilities Managers | $106,020 |
| 23 | Veterinarians | $105,090 |
| 24 | Optometrists | $150,420 |
| 25 | Commercial Pilots | $114,350 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $26,330 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $26,620 |
| Orderlies | $26,720 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $26,840 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $26,890 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $26,930 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,250 |
| Cashiers | $27,420 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $28,020 |
| Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks | $28,030 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in TN
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside TN. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($54,948 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA? ▼
Which federal tables feed Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA wage figures in a real decision
- Family Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA at $352,590/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Family Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $54,948 adjusts to about $63,563 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 86.4. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for TN before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.