Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,339
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,641
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,764
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
$49,980
Kept after tax
$42,339
Worth in national money
$45,764
State rank
28
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays this job around $49,980 at the midpoint, 28 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 275.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,980 you keep $42,339 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,764 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- For computer numerically controlled tool operators the Tennessee median is $49,980, ranking 28 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, computer numerically controlled tool operators sits at 275 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 $42,339 after the full tax stack, from $49,980. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,764 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,620 |
| This salary | $49,980 |
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 | $42,339 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,339 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,195 |
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 | $49,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,654 |
| 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 $49,980. The published range is $38,000 up to $64,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $42,339, worked from $49,980. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 275 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,764 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 275.
- Reported values are medians; for computer numerically controlled tool operators in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,000 to $64,620. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $42,339, on $49,980 for work ranking 275 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 275 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,764, worked from $49,980, 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 275 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $52,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,000 at the tenth percentile, $64,620 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $45,764.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,339 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,840. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,000 to $64,620) 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 $45,764 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 $42,339 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.