Cashiers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,152
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$3,438
12.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,187
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
$28,590
Kept after tax
$25,152
Worth in national money
$27,187
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for cashiers. The middle earner takes $28,590, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 13.05% 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: 484 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $28,590 you keep $25,152, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,187 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $28,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 44 of 51 for cashiers, with a median of $28,590 — about 13.05% 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.
- Cashiers occupies position 484 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 cashiers on $28,590 is $25,152. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,187 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 $28,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Cashiers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,780 |
| This salary | $28,590 |
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 | $25,152 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,152 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,304 |
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 | $28,590 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $28,590 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $21,410 and the ninetieth is $35,780 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $25,152 take-home in Tennessee comes from $28,590. 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 484 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,187 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 484.
- The Tennessee median of $28,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $21,410 to $35,780. 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 $25,152, from $28,590, 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 484 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,187, worked from $28,590, 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 484 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $21,410 at the tenth percentile, $35,780 at the ninetieth.
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 $27,187 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $25,152 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 ($21,410 to $35,780) 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 $27,187 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 $25,152 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.