How much do pipelayers make in Tennessee in 2026?

Pipelayers in Tennessee earn a median wage of $46,020 per year, which works out to roughly $22.13 per hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of pipelayers in the state earn more, half earn less. If you're just starting out or working for a smaller contractor, expect to land closer to the 25th percentile: $41,800 annually, or about $20.10 per hour. Experienced hands and those working on larger commercial or municipal projects push into the 75th percentile at $48,970 per year, around $23.54 per hour.

The spread between the bottom quarter and top quarter is about $7,170 per year. That gap is meaningful — it's roughly what separates a pipelayer running a crew on a large sewer installation from someone hand-digging residential laterals for a small outfit. Where you land on that range depends heavily on what kind of work you're doing and who you're doing it for.

Pipelaying in Tennessee covers a lot of ground. The trade includes laying pipe for stormwater and sanitary sewer systems, water mains, drainage systems, and gas distribution lines. Most pipelayers work for utility contractors, highway contractors, or municipalities. The heaviest concentration of work in the state runs along the I-40 and I-65 corridors — Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga all have active utility and infrastructure construction markets that keep pipelayers employed year-round rather than seasonally.

Experience is the single biggest lever on your pay. A pipelayer who can read plans, set grade, operate a laser level, and safely direct a backhoe operator is worth more to a contractor than one who is still learning to bell-joint ductile iron pipe. Picking up equipment operator skills alongside your pipelaying work is one of the fastest ways to push your hourly rate higher — many contractors will move a pipelayer into a combined pipe-and-equipment role and pay accordingly.

Certifications also matter. Confined space entry certification, OSHA 10 or OSHA 30, and any state-recognized safe trenching and shoring credentials make you a lower liability on the job site. Contractors pay for that. Some also offer small bumps for CDL holders who can move equipment between sites.

No union scale data is available for pipelayers in Tennessee at this time. The state does not have a strong union density in the utility construction sector compared to states in the Midwest or Northeast, so most pipelayer wages here are set by open-shop contractors on a market basis. That means your negotiating power comes primarily from your track record and the tightness of the local labor market.

Job conditions affect pay in ways that don't always show up in annual figures. Pipelayers work outdoors, year-round, in all weather. Summer heat in Middle and West Tennessee is serious — trench work in August is physically demanding. Winter slowdowns are less severe here than in northern states, which means Tennessee pipelayers generally get more consistent hours than counterparts in colder climates. Consistent hours mean the annual figures above are fairly reliable representations of what you'll actually take home, rather than inflated numbers based on peak-season overtime.

Overtime is common on deadline-driven municipal projects. Public utilities and DOT contracts often carry liquidated damages clauses that push contractors to run extended shifts. A pipelayer at the median rate of $22.13 per hour earns $33.20 per overtime hour — a 40-hour week with 10 hours of overtime adds roughly $332 to that week's gross pay. Workers who want to maximize annual income should look specifically for contractors bidding on large public contracts where overtime is a regular feature of the schedule.

All figures on this page come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. They reflect wages paid to employees and do not include the value of benefits such as health insurance, retirement contributions, or paid leave.