What Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators earn in Hamilton County, TN
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $45,330: the median annual pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Hamilton County, TN. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $21.79 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $47,840, which is 5.5% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,120 people working in this occupation across the Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Hamilton County, TN has roughly 376,192 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in the Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $24,290 a year ($11.68 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $72,880 or more ($35.04 an hour). That is a gap of $48,590 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $34,240 at the 25th percentile and $72,880 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 3.0 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $21.79 an hour or $45,330 a year at the median for Hamilton County, TN. Before any deductions, that is $3,778 a month, $1,743 every two weeks and $872 each week. After taxes the same job pays $18.53 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Team Assemblers this way: "Work as part of a team having responsibility for assembling an entire product or component of a product. Team assemblers can perform all tasks conducted by the team in the assembly process and rotate through all or most of them, rather than being assigned to a specific task on a permanent basis. May participate in making management decisions affecting the work. Includes team leaders who work as part of the team."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Rotate through all the tasks required in a particular production process"; "Determine work assignments and procedures"; "Perform quality checks on products and parts"; "Shovel, sweep, or otherwise clean work areas".
This BLS pay category covers several related O*NET occupations, among them Team Assemblers, Assemblers and Fabricators, All Other, so the wage figures describe the group as a whole.
Job outlook for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 1,403,500 jobs in 2025 to 1,418,400 in 2035, a change of +1.1%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 138,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.9% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $44,650 for this occupation; the Hamilton County, TN median of $45,330 is 1.5% above it.
How pay in Hamilton County, TN compares
Compared with the Tennessee average
Pay in Hamilton County, TN runs $1,191 below the Tennessee average of $46,521, a gap of 2.6%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Tennessee would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Tennessee, the highest median we track for this job is $56,400 in Davidson County, TN.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $44,643 across the contiguous United States. At $45,330, Hamilton County, TN pays $687 more, which is 1.5% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Hamilton County, TN
Among the 413 occupations with published wages in Hamilton County, TN, Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators ranks number 268 by median pay, ahead of about 35% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand at $37,830 a year, which is $7,500 less than the median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators earning the Hamilton County, TN median of $45,330, they add up to $6,779. The result is $38,551 of take-home pay a year ($3,213 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 14.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $29,580. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,311, an effective 7.3% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,810 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $657. FICA totals $3,468, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Tennessee
Tennessee does not tax wage income, so the state income tax line for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Hamilton County, TN is $0. That alone leaves more in the paycheck than the same salary would in a state with an income tax. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,267 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $189 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Hamilton County, TN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Hamilton County, TN show an average adjusted gross income of $92,912 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.4% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 7.3% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Hamilton County, TN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Hamilton County, TN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $38,551 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Hamilton County, TN, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,231 a month ($14,772 a year), and at $1,340 for two bedrooms. For Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators, a one-bedroom absorbs 38.3% of take-home pay and 32.6% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 7.6% of gross pay for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Hamilton County, TN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Tennessee residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,313 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $421, for $1,733 in total. Gasoline in Tennessee averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,426.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $21,367 a year in Hamilton County, TN. Subtract that from $38,551 of take-home pay and $17,184 remains, which is $1,432 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 37.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Hamilton County, TN
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Hamilton County, TN: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Hamilton County, TN, set beside the Tennessee and national medians.
Property taxes in Hamilton County, TN
Homeowners in Hamilton County, TN pay a median of $1,925 a year in real estate taxes, 33% above the Tennessee median of $1,442 and 38% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $312,800, the median tax bill is 0.62% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators median of $45,330, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Hamilton County, TN
Renters in Hamilton County, TN pay a median gross rent of $1,253 a month in the Census survey, 5% above the Tennessee median of $1,189. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,231 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $312,800, 9% above the Tennessee median of $286,700. Median household income is $76,183, 9% above the Tennessee median of $69,595, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 19.4% of that income.
Commuting in Hamilton County, TN
Workers in Hamilton County, TN who travel to a workplace spend an average of 22.1 minutes each way, 14% below the Tennessee average of 25.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 3.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 14.3% of workers in Hamilton County, TN work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators afford to live in Hamilton County, TN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $45,330 that ceiling is $1,133 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,231 is $98 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.67 an hour; the median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $21.79, which is 8% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $18.53 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 15.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,340 a month means $670 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,732 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,916.
How fast you can save
At $1,432 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 7 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 14 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators pay in Hamilton County, TN
How much do Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators make per hour in Hamilton County, TN?
The median is $21.79 per hour, based on $45,330 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $11.68 at the 10th percentile to $35.04 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators take home after taxes in Hamilton County, TN?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $45,330 becomes $38,551 a year. That is $3,213 a month, $1,483 every two weeks or $741 a week.
How much tax do Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators pay in Hamilton County, TN?
Total taxes are $6,779 a year, an effective rate of 14.9%: $3,311 federal income tax, $3,468 FICA and no Tennessee income tax.
Do Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators earn more in Hamilton County, TN than elsewhere in Tennessee?
No. The local median of $45,330 is -2.6% versus the Tennessee average of $46,521, a difference of $1,191 a year.
Can Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators afford a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton County, TN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,231 a month against take-home pay of $3,213, which is 38.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,133 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Hamilton County, TN?
About $1,432 a month ($17,184 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,367 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Hamilton County, TN at the 30% guideline?
$23.67 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,772 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators is $21.79.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Tennessee rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.