Tennessee·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3019

Best Drafter, All Other programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment

All drafters not listed.

13 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 95 people a year. The job pays a median of in Tennessee across about 320 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTracerDetailerDraughtsmanJob CaptainHull DrafterChief DrafterForm DesignerDetail Drafter
Graduates / yr
95
in Tennessee
Median pay · Tennessee
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
320
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
64%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Tennessee that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Tennessee that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Tennessee (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Tennessee page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 15.1301In Tennessee
69
72.6%
11$44,946$12,992
2
CIP 15.1102In Tennessee
26
27.4%
2$59,013

Top 13 schools in Tennessee

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
21Surveying Technology/Surveying53%86%
2Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Jackson
Jackson, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
16Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General80%
3Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Morristown
Morristown, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
12Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General80%
4Chattanooga State Community College
Chattanooga, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
8Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General26%
5Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Shelbyville
Shelbyville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
7Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General81%
6Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville
Nashville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
6Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General70%
7Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Hohenwald
Hohenwald, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
6Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General65%
8Cleveland State Community College
Cleveland, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
5Surveying Technology/Surveying37%
9Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Memphis
Memphis, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
4Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General55%
10Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
4Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General76%
11Tennessee College of Applied Technology - Dickson
Dickson, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
3Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General74%
12Tennessee College of Applied Technology Northwest
Newbern, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
2Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General69%
13Tennessee College of Applied Technology Crump
Crump, TN Public · 1 feeder programs
1Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General63%

All 13 schools in Tennessee

Every school in Tennessee with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

What drafters, all other earn in Tennessee

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Tennessee
Mean annual
Jobs in state
320
Job concentration
1.06×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Tennessee

Memphis, TN-MS-AR
$68,020median
30 jobs
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN
$67,770median
50 jobs
Chattanooga, TN-GA
$37,750median
40 jobs
Knoxville, TN
$34,620median
140 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-6.9%
Decline
Openings per year
1,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-1,200
17,100 → 15,900
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Drafters, All Other page.

How to become a Drafter, All Other

Typical entry education
Associate's degree

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Tennessee

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Drafters, All Other5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.1102Surveying Technology/Surveying
  • 15.1301Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General
  • 15.1302CAD/CADD Drafting and/or Design Technology/Technician
  • 15.13073-D Modeling and Design Technology/Technician
  • 15.1399Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing drafters, all other programs in Tennessee.

What degree do you need to become a Drafter, All Other?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Drafting and Design Technology/Technician, General, which awarded 69 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 72.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Drafter, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Drafting/Design Engineering Technologies/Technicians, Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 95 people a year in Tennessee.

Is demand for drafters, all other growing?+

BLS projects a -6.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 1,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+

13 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+

BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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