Audio and Video Technicians in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,331
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,639
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,756
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
$49,970
Kept after tax
$42,331
Worth in national money
$45,756
State rank
32
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for audio and video technicians. The median is $49,970, ranking 32 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Audio and video technicians ranks 276 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,970 you keep $42,331, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,756 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for audio and video technicians: a median of $49,970, ranking 32 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 276 of 491 in Tennessee places audio and video technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for audio and video technicians on $49,970 is $42,331. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,756 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 $55,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Audio and Video Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,390 |
| This salary | $49,970 |
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 | $42,331 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,331 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,194 |
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 | $49,970 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,654 |
| 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 $49,970. The published range is $32,830 up to $84,390, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $42,331, worked from $49,970. 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 276 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,756 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 276.
- Reported values are medians; for audio and video technicians in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,830 to $84,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $42,331, on $49,970 for work ranking 276 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 276 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,756, worked from $49,970, 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 276 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 $55,150 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $32,830 and the top tenth $84,390 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $45,756 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,331 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $55,150. 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 ($32,830) and the ninetieth ($84,390) 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 $45,756 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 $42,331 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.