Athletic Trainers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,269
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,581
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,337
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
$59,850
Kept after tax
$50,269
Worth in national money
$54,337
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for athletic trainers. The middle earner takes $59,850, ranking 36 of 50 states — about 4.27% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 207.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,850 you keep $50,269 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,337 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $57,670.
- Tennessee ranks 36 of 50 for athletic trainers, with a median of $59,850 — about 4.27% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, athletic trainers sits at 207 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $50,269 after the full tax stack, from $59,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,337 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $57,670 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Athletic Trainers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,510 |
| This salary | $59,850 |
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 | $50,269 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,269 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,606 |
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 | $59,850 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,151 |
| 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 athletic trainers in Tennessee earn under $59,850 and half over. The published range runs $44,030 at the tenth percentile to $75,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $50,269, from $59,850, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 207 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $54,337, the adjusted value of that $59,850 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 207 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for athletic trainers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,030 to $75,510; 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.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,269 from $59,850. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 207 of 491 locally.
- This $54,337 adjusted figure, worked from $59,850, 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 207 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 207 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $57,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,030 at the bottom tenth to $75,510 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,337.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $50,269 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.
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 $57,670. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,030 to $75,510) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Tennessee rather than a national figure.
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 $54,337 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 $50,269 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.