BCBA & RBT Salary in Tennessee (2026)
From live job-posting data + Medicaid rate records. Updated July 2026.
This page is for ABA practice owners in Tennessee. It shows what the market pays right now, who is hiring, and why. Use it to set offers that keep your team.
Posting-Disclosed Pay
| Role | Median (annualized) | Range | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCBA | $92,750 | $70,000 – $110,253 | 22 Tennessee postings that disclose pay |
| RBT | $40,040 | $35,360 – $48,880 | 30 Tennessee postings that disclose pay |
Pay data comes from public LinkedIn postings that state a number. Hourly rates are annualized at 2,080 hours. Small samples are supplemented with national data.
Who Is Hiring in Tennessee
Most active employers (BCBA roles): Hopebridge, Hope, Blossom ABA Therapy, Finni Health (YC W23), ABS Kids.
Busiest hiring cities: Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Clarksville.
Working as a Behavior Analyst in Tennessee
Tennessee runs two license tiers, not one. A Licensed Behavior Analyst (LBA) requires current BCBA or BCBA-D certification and allows independent practice. A Licensed Assistant Behavior Analyst (LABA) requires BCaBA certification and only permits practice under the extended authority and supervision of an LBA. Both are issued by the Applied Behavior Analyst Licensing Committee, a committee of the TN Board of Examiners in Psychology, and the committee’s decisions have to be ratified by the full Board at its next meeting.
For a working BCBA, this means licensure is not optional paperwork, it is what lets you bill, supervise, and practice independently in the state. Renewal is every two years and requires proof of current BACB national certification plus 3 CE hours in cultural diversity. There is no separate ABA-specific telehealth registration or permit under the licensing committee’s rules, so telehealth practice runs through your standard LBA license rather than a special add-on credential.
RBT vs. BT in Tennessee
Tennessee’s Medicaid program, TennCare, builds its billing codes around the RBT credential. The 2024 MCO-uniform ABA program description (covering BlueCare, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, and Wellpoint) requires RBTs and their supervising BCBAs to comply with all current BACB requirements for credentialing, ethics, competency, supervision, and maintenance of the RBT credential. The CPT coding itself reflects this split: 97153 is billed with a “BA” designation when a BCBA or LBA delivers the service, and with an “RBT” designation when a technician delivers it. Unlicensed staff can only deliver ABA under the extended authority and direction of an LBA, and cannot represent themselves as behavior analysts.
For job seekers, this makes the RBT credential real leverage. It is the documented, billable pathway for technician-level work under TennCare, not just a resume line. For practice owners, it means your staffing model should assume RBT credentialing as the standard for anyone billing technician-level hours. TennCare’s program description also sets a soft best-practice cap of six to eight participants for group adaptive behavior treatment by protocol, which shapes how many RBTs or BCBAs you need to staff group programming.
Outside the Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville metros, demand looks strong. As of the HRSA quarterly summary dated 12/31/2025, Tennessee has 97 designated Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas covering more than 3.1 million people, with only about 13.3% of mental health provider need currently met. That is a general mental health workforce metric, not ABA-specific, but it signals real openings for BCBAs willing to work outside the biggest cities.
Common Questions
How much does a BCBA make in Tennessee?
Job postings in Tennessee that disclose pay show a median around $92,750 per year.
Is it hard to hire BCBAs in Tennessee?
A LinkedIn search for BCBA roles in Tennessee returns 1,000+ results from the past month (including related roles). The busiest hiring markets are Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Clarksville.
What drives BCBA pay in a state?
Three things: Medicaid and commercial reimbursement rates, how many certified analysts live in the state, and demand from autism prevalence and insurance mandates.
Compare neighboring states: Georgia · Alabama · Kentucky · North Carolina · Virginia