Accountants and Auditors in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,887
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$13,953
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,975
Tennessee costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Tennessee — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$76,840
Kept after tax
$62,887
Worth in national money
$67,975
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for accountants and auditors is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $76,840. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 8.17% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, accountants and auditors comes in at 112 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,840 you keep $62,887, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,975 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $82,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For accountants and auditors, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $76,840, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 8.17%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Accountants and auditors ranks 112 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for accountants and auditors on $76,840 is $62,887. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,975 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $82,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Accountants and Auditors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $122,160 |
| This salary | $76,840 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Tennessee | $62,887 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,887 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,260 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $76,840 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,503 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Tennessee earn less than $76,840. The published range is $49,920 up to $122,160, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $62,887 take-home in Tennessee comes from $76,840. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 112 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,975, the adjusted value of that $76,840 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 112 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for accountants and auditors in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,920 to $122,160. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $62,887, from $76,840, assumes a single Tennessee filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 112 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $67,975 — the adjusted value of that $76,840 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 112 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $82,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,920 at the bottom tenth to $122,160 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Tennessee is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $67,975 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $62,887 of this wage reaches your account, because Tennessee takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Tennessee is $82,260. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,920) and the ninetieth ($122,160) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Tennessee's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $67,975 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Tennessee levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $62,887 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.