Cost Estimators in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,050
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$13,600
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,070
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
$75,650
Kept after tax
$62,050
Worth in national money
$67,070
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cost estimators is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $75,650. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 3.92% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 124.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $75,650 you keep $62,050, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,070 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $79,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cost estimators, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $75,650, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 3.92%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, cost estimators sits at 124 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for cost estimators on $75,650 is $62,050. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,070 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 $79,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $120,990 |
| This salary | $75,650 |
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 | $62,050 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,050 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,216 |
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 | $75,650 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,443 |
| 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 $75,650. The published range is $42,440 up to $120,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $62,050, from $75,650, 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 124 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,070 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 124.
- Reported values are medians; for cost estimators in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,440 to $120,990. 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 $62,050 from $75,650. 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 124 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,070, worked from $75,650, 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 124 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 $79,960 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $42,440 at the bottom tenth to $120,990 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $67,070 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $62,050 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $79,960. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($42,440) and the ninetieth ($120,990) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $67,070 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 $62,050 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.