Counter and Rental Clerks in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,681
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,279
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,325
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
$37,960
Kept after tax
$32,681
Worth in national money
$35,325
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for counter and rental clerks. The middle earner takes $37,960, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 8.09% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 415 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,960 you keep $32,681 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,325 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,540, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 36 of 51 for counter and rental clerks, with a median of $37,960 — about 8.09% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Counter and rental clerks occupies position 415 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $32,681 after the full tax stack, from $37,960. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,325 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,540 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Counter and Rental Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,760 |
| This salary | $37,960 |
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 | $32,681 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,681 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,694 |
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 | $37,960 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,049 |
| 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 $37,960. The published range is $28,110 up to $57,760, 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 $32,681, worked from $37,960. 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 415 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,325, the adjusted value of that $37,960 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 415 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for counter and rental clerks in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,110 to $57,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $32,681, on $37,960 for work ranking 415 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 415 of 491 in the state.
- This $35,325 adjusted figure, worked from $37,960, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 415 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 415 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,540, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $28,110, the highest tenth $57,760, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $35,325.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,681 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $40,540. 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 ($28,110) and the ninetieth ($57,760) 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 $35,325 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 $32,681 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.