Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,739
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,451
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,763
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
$59,190
Kept after tax
$49,739
Worth in national money
$53,763
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $59,190, ranking 39 of 51 states — about 4.18% 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 213.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,190 you keep $49,739 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,763 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 39 of 51 for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists, with a median of $59,190 — about 4.18% 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, bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists sits at 213 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 $49,739 after the full tax stack, from $59,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,763 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,580 |
| This salary | $59,190 |
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 | $49,739 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,739 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,578 |
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 | $59,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,118 |
| 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 $59,190. The published range is $40,450 up to $80,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,739 take-home in Tennessee comes from $59,190. 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 213 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,763, the adjusted value of that $59,190 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 213 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,450 to $80,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,739, from $59,190, 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 213 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $53,763 — the adjusted value of that $59,190 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 213 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,450 at the bottom tenth to $80,580 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $53,763 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $49,739 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,450 to $80,580) 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 $53,763 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 $49,739 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.