Division of Research & Evaluation

Appalachian Regional Commission

Industrial snapshot: Appalachian Tennessee

Largest industrial share in 2017: Professional & Technical Services, 200,000 jobs, 12.7 percent of total employment

Fastest growth in employment from 2012 to 2017: Utilities, 35.5 percent growth

Fastest growth in earnings per employee from 2012 to 2017: Food, Lodging, & Entertainment, 15 percent growth

For more information, please see the complete report, Industrial Make-up of the Appalachian Region, Employment and Earnings, 2002-2017, available 

for download at www.arc.gov/research. The report includes county-level maps for each industry in the region, allowing for comparisons across states and 

subregions, as well discussion about how trends in the Region compare with those in the United States as a whole.

App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total

Total Employment 1,572 2,432 4,004 13,420 196,132 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 $47,394 $57,013 $53,236 $46,697 $57,187

Professional, Technical Services 200 370 570 1,619 28,479 12.7 15.2 14.2 12.1 14.5 $41,827 $44,007 $43,244 $43,107 $61,372

Manufacturing 178 188 366 1,342 13,307 11.3 7.7 9.1 10.0 6.8 $65,219 $74,438 $69,957 $63,583 $77,469

Retail Trade 175 240 416 1,493 19,222 11.2 9.9 10.4 11.1 9.8 $18,176 $34,613 $27,677 $17,906 $22,477

State & Local Government 165 211 376 1,488 19,619 10.5 8.7 9.4 11.1 10.0 $54,834 $58,911 $57,124 $58,113 $69,677

Health, Social Services 163 262 425 1,562 22,199 10.4 10.8 10.6 11.6 11.3 $61,687 $92,158 $80,451 $53,807 $56,340

Food, Lodging, Entertainment 160 246 406 1,240 19,155 10.2 10.1 10.1 9.2 9.8 $24,191 $35,006 $30,741 $21,308 $27,685

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 121 216 338 1,040 19,616 7.7 8.9 8.4 7.8 10.0 $36,137 $48,892 $44,305 $37,716 $60,386

Wholesale Trade, Transportation 108 230 338 874 14,148 6.9 9.5 8.5 6.5 7.2 $78,420 $69,834 $72,572 $80,686 $83,878

Personal & Other Services 94 152 246 793 11,170 6.0 6.3 6.1 5.9 5.7 $35,599 $35,415 $35,485 $32,180 $36,353

Construction 90 129 219 775 10,636 5.8 5.3 5.5 5.8 5.4 $53,894 $73,517 $65,421 $53,773 $64,788

Farming, Forestry 43 40 82 325 3,552 2.7 1.6 2.0 2.4 1.8 $5,987 $275 $3,236 $13,726 $28,111

Education, Information Services 41 96 137 432 8,075 2.6 4.0 3.4 3.2 4.1 $106,308 $98,093 $100,533 $79,670 $82,520

Federal Government, Military 27 43 70 241 4,786 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.8 2.4 $91,065 $82,388 $85,744 $78,938 $91,808

Coal, Gas, Other Mining 5 5 10 140 1,505 0.3 0.2 0.3 1.0 0.8 $26,214 $29,543 $27,921 $48,966 $67,769

Utilities 2 3 5 57 664 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.3 $66,700 $69,042 $68,050 $109,314 $125,893

Tennessee App. U.S. Tennessee App. U.S. 2017

Employment (thousands) Industrial Share Earnings per employee

Tennessee App. U.S.

App. Non-App. Total App. Non-App. Total

Total Employment 6.7 12.5 10.1 4.7 9.6 4.1 5.6 5.3 3.7 3.4

Professional, Technical Services 11.2 20.1 16.9 7.1 12.0 6.1 13.5 10.9 9.3 7.8

Manufacturing 10.5 13.2 11.9 5.5 5.6 1.4 1.6 1.6 3.4 1.4

Retail Trade 4.9 8.5 6.9 2.5 6.4 11.6 10.9 11.6 22.4 15.6

State & Local Government 0.5 -0.6 -0.1 -0.7 2.3 6.7 3.8 5.0 6.8 7.9

Health, Social Services 3.6 9.8 7.3 5.3 10.5 3.8 13.8 11.1 4.7 4.1

Food, Lodging, Entertainment 15.4 20.5 18.5 11.6 15.1 15.0 9.5 11.6 6.2 8.0

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 7.3 19.5 14.8 8.6 11.7 -0.5 -8.4 -5.4 -2.5 2.9

Wholesale Trade, Transportation 7.0 14.0 11.6 6.2 16.8 2.7 -0.8 0.3 -0.6 -5.6

Personal & Other Services 4.6 7.7 6.5 3.7 7.7 4.3 1.4 2.5 3.1 2.5

Construction 5.2 16.9 11.8 7.2 19.0 5.3 19.4 14.7 3.5 7.9

Farming, Forestry -2.1 0.1 -1.1 0.7 1.3 5.3 -96.8 -54.2 -6.2 -18.9

Education, Information Services 9.1 12.6 11.6 2.4 8.7 -2.0 4.7 2.4 4.4 6.5

Federal Government, Military -7.2 -3.5 -5.0 -3.9 -2.9 9.6 4.8 6.7 3.4 2.8

Coal, Gas, Other Mining 1.8 12.5 7.0 -17.3 -2.7 -14.9 -11.2 -12.7 -23.3 -36.4

Utilities 35.5 39.0 37.5 11.0 14.9 -12.5 -30.8 -24.1 0.3 -2.6

2012-2017

Percent change in employment Percent change in earnings per employee

Tennessee App. U.S. Tennessee App. U.S.