Architectural and Civil Drafters in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,526
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$11,694
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,180
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
$69,220
Kept after tax
$57,526
Worth in national money
$62,180
State rank
14
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $69,220, which ranks 14 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 4.64% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Tennessee, this sits in the middle: 145 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $69,220 the take-home is $57,526; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $62,180 would nationally. The average comes to $70,720, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 14 of 50 states publishing a median for architectural and civil drafters, at $69,220 — about 4.64% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 145 of 491 occupations in Tennessee by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for architectural and civil drafters in Tennessee, on $69,220, is $57,526 — equivalent to $62,180 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $70,720 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,020 |
| This salary | $69,220 |
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 | $57,526 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,526 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,982 |
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 | $69,220 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,119 |
| 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 architectural and civil drafters in Tennessee earn under $69,220 and half over. The published range runs $45,050 at the tenth percentile to $98,020 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,526 take-home in Tennessee comes from $69,220. 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 145 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $62,180 uses one figure for the whole of Tennessee. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 145.
- Figures are distribution medians for architectural and civil drafters in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,050 to $98,020; 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.
- Retained pay of $57,526, from $69,220, 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 145 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $62,180, worked from $69,220, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Tennessee address, on work sitting at 145 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,050, the highest tenth $98,020, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $62,180.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $57,526 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,050) and the ninetieth ($98,020) 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 $62,180 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 $57,526 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.