Medical assistant salary in Tennessee

The middle half of medical assistants in Tennessee earn between $37,160 and $45,580 a year. The table lays out where earnings begin, where the midpoint falls and where the highest earners end up, drawn from BLS wage data.

The average sits slightly above the median. The median is the better guide to a typical paycheck.

Yes. At $44,620 a year, the Nashville-Davidson, Murfreesboro and Franklin metro posts the top median in Tennessee. It also employs the most medical assistants, roughly 6,340 of them. Morristown has the lowest metro median in the state, at $36,760 a year.

Pay changes from city to city, so if you can work in the Nashville area, it's a good place to start looking.

Among the 50 states and Washington, DC, Tennessee ranks 41st for median medical assistant pay. The state does better on how widespread the role is, ranking 22, with around 19,180 medical assistants, equal to 5.8 per 1,000 jobs. Put simply, wages trail most of the country, while jobs in this field are far from scarce.

Seeing this role alongside others you might be considering can help. These Tennessee medians come from the BLS.

Medical assistants in Tennessee earn a little more than phlebotomists and nursing assistants. Nurses earn more: $58,870 for licensed practical nurses and $81,500 for registered nurses.

The state's labor agency projects medical assistant employment to climb from 19,150 jobs in 2024 up to 22,220 by 2034, a gain of 16.0%, per Projections Central. That pace beats the 12.5% forecast for the US, and Tennessee places 23 of 51 for expected growth. Roughly 2,760 openings should appear each year, once you count both newly created roles and workers moving on.

At career schools across the US, the typical program takes about 9 months, so many students finish in under a year. Public colleges nationwide report median yearly in-district tuition and fees of $4,346, drawn from federal school data. At career schools nationwide that quote one price for the full program, books and fees included, the median comes to $17,257.

When weighing schools, accreditation is worth attention. Here, that means a program accredited by CAAHEP or ABHES. According to College Navigator, 24 Tennessee schools on this site report medical assistant graduates, and 8 of those run an accredited program.

About 2,760 medical assistant jobs open in Tennessee every year. Pick an accredited program on our Tennessee page and send your name, email, phone, ZIP code and start time with the Request information form, which goes to that one school.