Bill and Account Collectors in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,059
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,861
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,896
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
$40,920
Kept after tax
$35,059
Worth in national money
$37,896
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for bill and account collectors. The middle earner takes $40,920, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 12.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 382 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $40,920 you keep $35,059, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,896 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $43,550, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 47 of 51 for bill and account collectors, with a median of $40,920 — about 12.99% 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.
- Bill and account collectors occupies position 382 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for bill and account collectors on $40,920 is $35,059. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,896 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 $43,550 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Bill and Account Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,540 |
| This salary | $40,920 |
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 | $35,059 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,059 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,817 |
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 | $40,920 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,198 |
| 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 bill and account collectors in Tennessee earn under $40,920 and half over. The published range runs $30,470 at the tenth percentile to $60,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $35,059 take-home in Tennessee comes from $40,920. 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 382 of 491.
- Two cautions on $37,896, the adjusted value of that $40,920 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 382 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for bill and account collectors in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,470 to $60,540; 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 $35,059, from $40,920, 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 382 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- This $37,896 adjusted figure, worked from $40,920, 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 382 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 382 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 $43,550, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $30,470, the highest tenth $60,540, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $37,896 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $35,059 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.
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 $43,550. 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 ($30,470) and the ninetieth ($60,540) 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 $37,896 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 $35,059 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.