Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,588
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,702
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,034
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
$50,290
Kept after tax
$42,588
Worth in national money
$46,034
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 28 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $50,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 269 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,290 the take-home is $42,588; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,034 would nationally. The average comes to $54,590, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 28 of 51 for automotive service technicians and mechanics at $50,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 269 of 491 in Tennessee places automotive service technicians and mechanics 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.
- Post-tax income for automotive service technicians and mechanics in Tennessee, on $50,290, is $42,588 — equivalent to $46,034 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 $54,590 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,930 |
| This salary | $50,290 |
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 | $42,588 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,588 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,208 |
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 | $50,290 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,670 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,290 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,820 and the ninetieth is $79,930 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,588 take-home in Tennessee comes from $50,290. 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 269 of 491.
- Two cautions on $46,034, the adjusted value of that $50,290 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 269 of 491 locally.
- The Tennessee median of $50,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,820 to $79,930. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $42,588, from $50,290, 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 269 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- This $46,034 adjusted figure, worked from $50,290, 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 269 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 269 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 $54,590 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 $34,820 and the top tenth $79,930 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $46,034 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $42,588 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $54,590. 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 ($34,820) and the ninetieth ($79,930) 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 $46,034 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 $42,588 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.