Dentist Salary in Tennessee: What Dentists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$133,710
Median (50th)
$215,290
75th percentile
$269,120
National median
$170,950
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1021), May 2025
The median dentist salary in Tennessee is $215,290 a year, or $103.51 an hour, in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 wage estimates for general dentists (SOC 29-1021).
The middle half of the state's dentists earn $133,710 to $269,120.
Pay varies by city, and Memphis has the highest metro median at $238,040.
What does a dentist make in Tennessee?
The median dentist in Tennessee earns $215,290 a year ($103.51 an hour), which is $44,340 above the national median of $170,950, and more than in nearby North Carolina ($207,000), Georgia ($206,760) and Missouri ($204,960). The mean is $210,700.
That ranks 4th of the 47 states where BLS publishes a dentist median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Tennessee
The middle half of Tennessee dentists earn $133,710 to $269,120. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $84,360, $1,890 below the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $311,900, $7,730 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Tennessee
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Tennessee's 2024 price level at 91.9 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 8.1% below the national average, and housing (index 79.1) runs 20.9% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $215,290 median is worth about $234,340 — $63,390 above the national median of $170,950.
How many dentists work in Tennessee
BLS counts about 2,200 dentist jobs in Tennessee, 1.8% of the 124,390 nationwide, or 0.672 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dentists hold a 16% smaller share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 0.84).
Dentist Salary by City in Tennessee
Across the 8 Tennessee metro areas where BLS publishes a dentist median, pay runs from $122,910 in Cleveland to $238,040 in Memphis, a spread of $115,130.
All dental roles by metro: Chattanooga · Johnson City · Kingsport · Knoxville · Memphis · Nashville
Highest paying cities for dentists
Among the Tennessee metros with a reliable BLS estimate, the highest paying cities for dentists are Memphis ($238,040), Johnson City ($182,660) and Kingsport ($173,810), based on BLS's May 2025 medians for general dentists.
Memphis sits $22,750 above the state median, and the middle half of its dentists earn $135,830 to $273,390.
The table above also lists Nashville ($215,290) and Knoxville ($157,900).
BLS rates those wage estimates at ±10.5% and ±10.1%, so read them as rough signals, and this page doesn't rank them against the other cities.
Prices matter too.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts the Memphis metro's 2024 price level at 92.2 (U.S. = 100), against 96.3 for Nashville, where housing runs above the national average (104.6).
The Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville salary pages compare every dental role in those metros.
Where associate dentists fit in these salaries
BLS reports one general-dentist occupation.
It doesn't split out associate dentists or DSO employees, and it doesn't publish pay by years of experience or by employer, so this page has no separate Tennessee figure for any of them.
An associate position, working in a practice someone else owns, is the usual first job after dental school.
Associate pay is set by each employer, often as a percentage of production or collections, a daily guarantee or a base plus bonus.
The associate dentist career guide and how associate dentists are paid explain those models, and owning vs. associating compares the two paths. Associate dentist jobs show what employers post right now.
Dental schools and licensing
The education path runs through dental school.
Tennessee has three CODA-accredited predoctoral dental programs: Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry in Nashville, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Dentistry in Memphis, and Lincoln Memorial University College of Dental Medicine in Harrogate.
The Tennessee dental schools page lists each one's accreditation status, and the dental school guide covers what the four years involve.
Dentist practice in Tennessee is regulated by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry.
The Tennessee dentist licensure guide walks through the board's requirements.
Rules change, so verify them with the board before you apply.
Who's hiring dentists in Tennessee now
DentistryHires has 16 open dentist listings in Tennessee from 4 employers, led by Chattanooga, Cordova and Memphis (2 each).
1 posts a salary from $230,400 to $460,800 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dentist Regulatory Context in Tennessee
Dentist practice in Tennessee is regulated by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry.
Scope of practice — what a dentist may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Tennessee Compares
North Carolina
$207,000
+21% vs. national
North Carolina salary →
Georgia
$206,760
+21% vs. national
Georgia salary →
Missouri
$204,960
+20% vs. national
Missouri salary →
Virginia
$197,110
+15% vs. national
Virginia salary →
Arkansas
$178,930
+5% vs. national
Arkansas salary →
Mississippi
$143,660
-16% vs. national
Mississippi salary →
Kentucky
$134,160
-22% vs. national
Kentucky salary →
Other dental salaries in Tennessee
- Dental Hygienist salary in Tennessee: median $84,640, $130,650 below the dentist median
- Dental Assistant salary in Tennessee: median $46,720, $168,570 below the dentist median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Tennessee: median $48,880, $166,410 below the dentist median
- Orthodontist salary in Tennessee: median $339,610
Dentist Salary FAQs
How much does a dentist make in Nashville?
BLS's May 2025 median for general dentists in the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin metro area is $215,290 a year, or $103.51 an hour.
The mean is $228,100, and the middle half of Nashville-area dentists earn $157,320 to $269,120 (BLS OEWS, SOC 29-1021).
BLS rates the Nashville wage estimate at ±10.5%, so treat it as a rough benchmark rather than an exact market rate.
How much does a dentist make in Lenoir City?
BLS doesn't publish a dentist wage for Lenoir City itself.
The city is part of the Knoxville metro area, where the May 2025 median for general dentists is $157,900 a year, or $75.92 an hour, and the middle half earn $106,570 to $251,560 (BLS OEWS, SOC 29-1021).
That is a metro-wide figure, not a Lenoir City one, and BLS rates the Knoxville wage estimate at ±10.1%, so treat it as a rough regional benchmark.
Does dentist pay in Tennessee rise with experience?
BLS doesn't publish dentist pay by years of experience, so there's no official Tennessee salary for a new graduate or a 10-year dentist.
The pay spread is the closest guide: the 10th percentile is $84,360, the 25th is $133,710, the 75th is $269,120 and the 90th is $311,900 (BLS OEWS, SOC 29-1021, May 2025).
Percentiles rank every dentist in the survey, whatever their experience.
Do these salaries include dentists who own their practice?
No. BLS's Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey asks employers what they pay, so it covers dentists who are paid a wage or salary by an employer.
Self-employed dentists, including practice owners, aren't in it.
That's why these figures describe employed dentists, not what a Tennessee practice owner takes home.
Do these figures include orthodontists and oral surgeons?
No. This page covers BLS's general-dentist occupation (SOC 29-1021).
BLS counts specialists under their own codes, such as orthodontists (29-1023) and oral and maxillofacial surgeons (29-1022).
Tennessee's May 2025 orthodontist median is $339,610 a year, but BLS rates that wage estimate at ±13.2% and published no employment count behind it, so treat it as a rough signal.
The release has no Tennessee state estimate for oral surgeons.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.
This page is general information, not legal or medical advice. Verify licensing questions with the Tennessee Board of Dentistry.