Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,842
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$15,198
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,169
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
$81,040
Kept after tax
$65,842
Worth in national money
$71,169
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $81,040, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, this job comes in at 91 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $81,040 you keep $65,842 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,169 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $90,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for aircraft mechanics and service technicians: a median of $81,040, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Aircraft mechanics and service technicians ranks 91 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $65,842 after the full tax stack, from $81,040. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,169 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $90,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,410 |
| This salary | $81,040 |
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 | $65,842 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,842 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,413 |
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 | $81,040 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,714 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of aircraft mechanics and service technicians in Tennessee earn under $81,040 and half over. The published range runs $52,900 at the tenth percentile to $167,410 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $65,842, worked from $81,040. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 91 of 491.
- Two cautions on $71,169, the adjusted value of that $81,040 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 91 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,900 to $167,410; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Tennessee take-home of $65,842, on $81,040 for work ranking 91 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 91 of 491 in the state.
- This $71,169 adjusted figure, worked from $81,040, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 91 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 91 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 $90,060 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 $52,900 at the bottom tenth to $167,410 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 $71,169 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,842 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $90,060. 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 ($52,900) and the ninetieth ($167,410) 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 $71,169 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 $65,842 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.