Paving Contractor Pay and Health Insurance in Tennessee (2026)

Q: How much does a paving contractor make in Tennessee?

The BLS median wage for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Tennessee is $48,690 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $34,450. The middle half earn $41,320 to $55,590, and the top 10% more than $62,810. BLS counts about 1,550 people doing this work for an employer in Tennessee. The self-employed are not in the BLS survey, so this is the going rate for the work, not your own number.

Wage benchmark and the 2027 subsidy cliff

$48,690median annual wage, Paving Contractors in Tennessee

305%of the federal poverty level

$63,8402027 subsidy cliff, single-person household

Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2027.

This occupation sits above the cliff in 2 of the 23 states reported and below it in the other 21, so the answer changes with the state.

What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators (SOC 47-2071) in Tennessee. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed paving contractor. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.

Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2027 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $63,840 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.

Sources

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. State-level annual median wage (A_MEDIAN), detailed occupation. https://www.bls.gov/oes/. Retrieved 2026-08-03. Figures used unmodified; suppressed cells are omitted, not estimated.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines. 91 FR 1797, 15 January 2026. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines. Retrieved 2026-09-27. The 2026 guidelines govern premium tax credit eligibility for plan year 2027 coverage. The 2027 guidelines apply to 2028 coverage.
Full dataset for all occupations and states: CSV · JSON (CC BY 4.0).

All 23 states

Benchmark premium and median wage for this occupation, ranked by premium.

#	State	Benchmark @40	Median wage	vs cliff
1	Maryland	$414	$58,720	below
2	Virginia	$455	$46,850	below
3	Indiana	$474	$56,960	below
4	Nevada	$497	$60,680	below
5	Ohio	$513	$61,290	below
6	Michigan	$523	$54,690	below
7	Colorado	$557	$53,430	below
8	South Carolina	$564	$45,290	below
9	Oklahoma	$604	$47,230	below
10	Wisconsin	$611	$79,440	above
11	Georgia	$615	$44,600	below
12	North Carolina	$638	$47,620	below
13	Utah	$640	$47,890	below
14	Alabama	$645	$39,000	below
15	Illinois	$646	$66,130	above
16	South Dakota	$655	$57,610	below
17	Texas	$661	$46,810	below
18	Mississippi	$662	$38,490	below
19	Kansas	$670	$53,540	below
20	Florida	$683	$44,810	below
21	Nebraska	$710	$48,900	below
22	Tennessee	$711	$48,690	below
23	Arkansas	$774	$40,860	below

Questions

How much does a paving contractor make in Tennessee?

The BLS median wage for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Tennessee is $48,690 a year (May 2024). Starting pay — the 10th percentile — is about $34,450. The middle half earn $41,320 to $55,590, and the top 10% more than $62,810. BLS counts about 1,550 people doing this work for an employer in Tennessee. The self-employed are not in the BLS survey, so this is the going rate for the work, not your own number.

Does being a paving contractor change what health insurance costs in Tennessee?

No. Under the ACA carriers may not rate, decline, or exclude based on occupation or health history. Premiums vary only by age, ZIP code, tobacco use and household size, so the benchmark of $711 a month applies regardless of trade.

Do paving contractors qualify for a subsidy in Tennessee in 2026?

Premium tax credit eligibility depends on household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not occupation. For reference, the BLS median wage for Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Tennessee is $48,690, which is below the 2027 cliff of $63,840 for a single-person household. Your own income and household size decide the answer.

What is the benchmark premium in Tennessee for 2026?

$711 a month for a 40-year-old, ranking 22 of 23 states published here. That is full price before any premium tax credit.

Where do these numbers come from?

Premiums come from the CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file and published state rate approvals. Wages come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Both are reproduced unmodified; the full wage dataset is downloadable as CSV or JSON.

Going deeper on Tennessee

This page compares states. For Tennessee specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — that is published on Coverage by County. To check whether a plan actually covers your hospital, see Plans By City.

← Paving Contractors in all states · All trades · All occupations

How Tennessee compares with every other state →

Want this worked out for your ZIP?

Put your ZIP code in and a licensed agent will show you the carriers filing in your county, what the cheapest plan costs, and what you would actually pay after any help you qualify for. No cost, and you talk to a licensed agent — not a call center.

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Tennessee Paving Contractors: what 2027 actually changes

One of Tennessee’s 6 carriers is leaving. Cigna exits the individual market entirely on January 1, 2027, so if you are a paving contractor covered by them the question is not whether you switch but whether you choose the switch yourself.

Nobody can tell you your 2027 Tennessee premium yet. Filings nationally cluster around a 15% median increase, with the full spread running −1% to 54% — and until this state signs off, a specific local number is invention.

Mark November 1, 2026 to open and December 15 to act. That second date guarantees cover from January 1 in Tennessee regardless of how the current litigation over the enrollment window resolves.

There is still no PPO on the Tennessee marketplace — not in any of its 95 counties. Every plan is an EPO, which for a paving contractor working across a wide area is the binding constraint, not price.

Get ahead of the November rush

You already know you are changing plans — Cigna is leaving. The only real question is whether you pick the replacement or the marketplace picks it for you, and that is a much easier decision made now than in the second week of December.

Enter a ZIP and a licensed agent will tell you three things:

Whether your current plan and carrier are still writing in your county for 2027
What your income estimate should realistically be — the number your credit is calculated from, and the one paving contractors most often get wrong
Whether the doctors you actually use are in the 2027 network, before you are locked in

Map my 2027 options →

Paving Contractors Health Insurance in Tennessee