Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,495
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,945
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,690
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
$46,440
Kept after tax
$39,495
Worth in national money
$42,690
State rank
30
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 30 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $46,440. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Tennessee, this sits in the middle: 328 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,440 you keep $39,495, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,690 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 30 of 49 for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters at $46,440. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Cabinetmakers and bench carpenters ranks 328 of 491 occupations in Tennessee by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters on $46,440 is $39,495. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,690 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 $46,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,400 |
| This salary | $46,440 |
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 | $39,495 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,495 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,047 |
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 | $46,440 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,476 |
| 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 cabinetmakers and bench carpenters in Tennessee earn under $46,440 and half over. The published range runs $35,780 at the tenth percentile to $62,400 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $39,495, from $46,440, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 328 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,690 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 328.
- Figures are distribution medians for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,780 to $62,400; 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.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,495 from $46,440. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 328 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,690, worked from $46,440, 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 328 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,780 at the tenth percentile, $62,400 at the ninetieth.
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 $42,690 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $39,495 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,780 to $62,400) 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 $42,690 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 $39,495 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.