How much do cement masons make in Tennessee in 2026?

The median cement mason in Tennessee earns $47,910 a year, which works out to roughly $23.03 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025. It covers cement masons and concrete finishers working on everything from commercial slabs and bridge decks to residential flatwork and tilt-up construction.

Pay spreads out considerably depending on where you land in the workforce. Workers at the 25th percentile — typically those newer to the trade or in lower-wage markets — bring home $43,520 annually, around $20.92 an hour. Workers at the 75th percentile clear $52,800 a year, or about $25.38 an hour. That $9,280 gap between the bottom quarter and the top quarter is meaningful, and it reflects real differences in experience, employer type, and the complexity of work being performed.

Getting from the lower end to the upper end is mostly a matter of time on the tools and the kinds of jobs you take. Entry-level workers doing basic residential flatwork — driveways, patios, sidewalks — will sit closer to $43,500. Masons who move into commercial and industrial work, particularly finishing large structural concrete pours, decorative stamping, or grinding and polishing, tend to work their way toward and beyond the 75th percentile mark. Specialty concrete finishing — epoxy coatings, exposed aggregate, tight-tolerance industrial floors — commands a premium because fewer workers can do it cleanly.

Geography inside Tennessee matters too. The Nashville metro and the Knoxville and Chattanooga corridors have seen sustained construction activity in recent years, with industrial and distribution facility buildouts driving demand for concrete work. Workers in those markets generally have more hours available and more competition among contractors for skilled finishers, which tends to push wages upward. Rural markets and smaller metro areas may see fewer large pours and more scattered residential work, which can mean lower effective hourly rates or more downtime between jobs.

Overtime is a real factor in this trade. A cement mason working a busy commercial season in Tennessee — spring through fall is the core period, since cold weather slows concrete placement — can add several hundred hours of overtime. At time-and-a-half, even a worker at the median rate of $23.03 earns $34.55 for those extra hours. A mason pulling 300 hours of overtime adds roughly $10,000 to $10,400 in gross pay over the base annual figure. That makes total annual compensation for a busy mason meaningfully higher than the BLS median alone suggests.

Tennessee does not require a statewide license for cement masons specifically, but contractors operating on commercial and public projects need contractor licenses, and working under licensed contractors means the work environment is inspected and regulated. Some workers may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates. Non-union workers should compare their offered rate directly against the BLS percentiles above to get a clear read on where they stand in the market.

Raising your pay as a cement mason in Tennessee generally comes down to a few practical moves. First, get comfortable with specialty finishes — decorative concrete, polished floors, and structural toppings are in demand and not every mason can execute them to spec. Second, pursue work with general contractors or concrete subcontractors operating on large commercial or infrastructure projects, where pay rates and hours both tend to be higher. Third, consider moving toward a lead or foreman role, which adds supervisory pay on top of your base rate. Foremen on concrete crews often earn noticeably more than the 75th percentile wage for journeyman masons.

The BLS figures here are a solid benchmark, but they have limits. They represent a point-in-time average across all employers in the state. They do not capture per diem, travel pay, tool allowances, or employer contributions to health and retirement benefits — all of which can add real value on top of hourly wages. Use the numbers here as a floor for your negotiations, not a ceiling.