Correctional Officers and Jailers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,110
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,830
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,598
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
$50,940
Kept after tax
$43,110
Worth in national money
$46,598
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $50,940. That is 34 of 49 states, and about 13.57% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Tennessee, this sits in the middle: 261 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,940 you keep $43,110 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,598 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- For correctional officers and jailers, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $50,940, ranking 34 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 13.57%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Correctional officers and jailers ranks 261 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $43,110 after the full tax stack, from $50,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,598 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,790 |
| This salary | $50,940 |
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 | $43,110 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,110 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,235 |
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 | $50,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,703 |
| 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 $50,940. The published range is $38,690 up to $62,790, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $43,110, from $50,940, 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 261 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 $46,598, the adjusted value of that $50,940 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 261 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for correctional officers and jailers in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,690 to $62,790. 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 $43,110 from $50,940. 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 261 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $46,598 — the adjusted value of that $50,940 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 261 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $38,690 at the bottom tenth to $62,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $46,598 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $43,110 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,690 to $62,790) 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 $46,598 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 $43,110 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.