Biological Scientists, All Other in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,462
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$15,038
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,758
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
$80,500
Kept after tax
$65,462
Worth in national money
$70,758
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Tennessee pays biological scientists, all other a middle wage of $80,500, 39 of 50 states and about 18.62% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, biological scientists, all other comes in at 95 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,500 the take-home is $65,462; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,758 would nationally. The average lands at $80,070, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee's $80,500 median for biological scientists, all other places it 39 of 50 states, about 18.62% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Biological scientists, all other ranks 95 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for biological scientists, all other in Tennessee, on $80,500, is $65,462 — equivalent to $70,758 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 $80,070 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Biological Scientists, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,300 |
| This salary | $80,500 |
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 | $65,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,462 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,393 |
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 | $80,500 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,687 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,500 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,070 and the ninetieth is $109,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $65,462 take-home in Tennessee comes from $80,500. 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 95 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,758, the adjusted value of that $80,500 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 95 of 491 in the state.
- The Tennessee median of $80,500 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,070 to $109,300. 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 $65,462, from $80,500, 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 95 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $70,758 — the adjusted value of that $80,500 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 95 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $44,070 at the bottom tenth to $109,300 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $70,758 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,462 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 ($44,070) and the ninetieth ($109,300) 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 $70,758 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 $65,462 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.