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Hiring an environmental engineering technologist in Knoxville, TN

Employers in the Knoxville, TN area pay environmental engineering technologists and technicians a median of $91,440, with the middle half of the market between $70,500 and $97,050. Knoxville residents working in architecture and engineering occupations report a median of $88,269, which is 3% below what the metro pays for this role.

What does an environmental engineering technologist earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid by employers in the Knoxville, TN area. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
25th percentile$70,500
Median$91,440
75th percentile$97,050

Half of environmental engineering technologists and technicians in this area earn between $70,500 and $97,050. A band set below $70,500 competes for the bottom quarter of the market.

Place of residence

What Knoxville residents earn

$88,269

Median earnings of Knoxville residents working in architecture and engineering occupations, 1,906 people. Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011. Where people live, not where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

The 3% figure is not a pay gap. ACS counts the civilian employed population 16 and over, part-time and part-year work included; OEWS counts wage-and-salary jobs only. The two populations differ, so read this number against other cities rather than as a shortfall: the same definitional difference applies to every city equally, which is what makes a city-to-city reading sound.

The two sit close together, so pay alone is unlikely to be what wins or loses this hire.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

  • Maintain project logbook records or computer program files.
  • Record laboratory or field data, including numerical data, test results, photographs, or summaries of visual observations.
  • Perform environmental quality work in field or office settings.
  • Produce environmental assessment reports, tabulating data and preparing charts, graphs, or sketches.
  • Collect and analyze pollution samples, such as air or ground water.

O*NET 29.1, task statements for SOC 17-3025.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D, Bentley MicroStation, C++, ESRI ArcGIS software.

O*NET 29.1, flagged in demand or hot for this occupation. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Knoxville?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

That matters here, because 33.7% of Knoxville adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501.

The average Knoxville commute runs 20.4 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 11.1% already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Knox County, architectural, engineering and related services employs 3,063 and turns over 5.3% a quarter, with 233 hires against 179 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $7,900 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5413.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about environmental engineering technologists and technicians. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's median would bill roughly $18,288 to $27,432 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an environmental engineering technologist somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other architecture and engineering roles in Knoxville

Related

Knoxville is the 3th largest of 3 Tennessee cities in this dataset.