How much do boilermakers make in Tennessee in 2026?

The median boilermaker salary in Tennessee is $51,810 per year, which works out to roughly $24.91 per hour based on a 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of Tennessee boilermakers earn more, half earn less. Where you land depends heavily on how much experience you have, what kind of facility you work in, and how much overtime you pull.

The bottom quarter of earners — those just getting started or working lighter-demand jobs — come in at $49,910 a year, or about $24.00 an hour. The gap between the 25th percentile and the median is relatively narrow, just under $1,900 annually. That tight spread at the lower end suggests that entry-level and mid-range boilermakers in Tennessee are clustered together in base pay.

The real jump happens at the top. The 75th percentile boilermaker in Tennessee earns $105,370 per year — around $50.66 an hour. That's more than double the median. Workers at this tier are typically journeymen with years of field experience, those working at high-demand industrial sites like chemical plants, refineries, or power generation facilities, or those who consistently rack up significant overtime hours. Tennessee has a meaningful industrial footprint, particularly in the middle and eastern parts of the state, and boilermakers who position themselves at those heavier industrial sites tend to see pay reflect that demand.

Overtime is a real factor in boilermaker pay. Shutdown work — where you go into a plant for a compressed repair or maintenance window — can mean 60- or 70-hour weeks for several weeks running. That time-and-a-half premium moves annual earnings fast. A boilermaker earning $24.91 an hour at straight time clears roughly $37.37 per overtime hour. Even a modest amount of shutdown work across the year can push a median earner well above their base annual figure.

New boilermakers typically enter through an apprenticeship program, which combines on-the-job training with technical instruction. Apprentices work at a percentage of journeyman scale, so pay starts below the figures shown here and climbs as you log hours and complete coursework. Most apprenticeships run four to five years. Completing your apprenticeship and earning journeyman status is the single most direct path from the lower percentiles toward the upper range.

Licensing and certification also matter. Boilermakers who hold certifications in welding — particularly pressure vessel welding to ASME code — are more valuable to employers and often command higher pay. If you can weld to code and work on high-pressure systems, you're harder to replace, and that shows up in your rate.

Some boilermakers in Tennessee may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates.

Geography within Tennessee plays a role too. The Nashville metro and the Chattanooga and Knoxville corridors have active industrial and commercial construction activity. Rural areas may have fewer active job sites, which can mean more travel or slower work availability. Boilermakers who are willing to travel for turnaround and shutdown work — sometimes across state lines — generally see the highest annual earnings because they can chase the work wherever it's happening.

These figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. BLS captures base wages reported by employers and does not include overtime, per diem, or travel pay — all of which are common in the boilermaker trade and can add meaningfully to take-home pay. The numbers here are a solid baseline, but your actual annual earnings may be higher once you factor in the full picture of a typical boilermaker's compensation.