Construction Laborers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,338
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,663
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,439
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
$45,000
Kept after tax
$38,338
Worth in national money
$41,439
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for construction laborers is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $45,000. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 4.5% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Construction laborers ranks 347 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,000 the take-home is $38,338; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,439 would nationally. The average comes to $45,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For construction laborers, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $45,000, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 4.5%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 347 of 491 in Tennessee places construction laborers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for construction laborers in Tennessee, on $45,000, is $38,338 — equivalent to $41,439 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 $45,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,990 |
| This salary | $45,000 |
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 | $38,338 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,338 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,987 |
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 | $45,000 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,403 |
| 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 construction laborers in Tennessee earn under $45,000 and half over. The published range runs $34,910 at the tenth percentile to $59,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $38,338, worked from $45,000. 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 347 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,439, the adjusted value of that $45,000 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 347 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for construction laborers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,910 to $59,990; 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.
- The Tennessee take-home of $38,338, on $45,000 for work ranking 347 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 347 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $41,439 — the adjusted value of that $45,000 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 347 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,910 and the top tenth $59,990, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,439 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $38,338 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 ($34,910 to $59,990) 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 $41,439 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 $38,338 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.