Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,760
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$4,810
13.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,249
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
$35,570
Kept after tax
$30,760
Worth in national money
$33,249
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Tennessee pays this job a middle wage of $35,570, 39 of 51 states and about 5.02% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Tennessee this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 438. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,570 you keep $30,760, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,249 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $35,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Tennessee's $35,570 median for cooks, institution and cafeteria places it 39 of 51 states, about 5.02% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Tennessee reports, cooks, institution and cafeteria ranks 438 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for cooks, institution and cafeteria on $35,570 is $30,760. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,249 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 $35,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,430 |
| This salary | $35,570 |
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 | $30,760 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,760 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,594 |
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 | $35,570 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,928 |
| 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 $35,570. The published range is $27,830 up to $45,430, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $30,760, from $35,570, 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 438 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,249, the adjusted value of that $35,570 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 438 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, institution and cafeteria in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,830 to $45,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,760 from $35,570. 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 438 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $33,249 — the adjusted value of that $35,570 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 438 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $27,830 at the tenth percentile, $45,430 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 $33,249.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $30,760 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 ($27,830 to $45,430) 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 $33,249 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 $30,760 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.