Crane and Tower Operators in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,916
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,494
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,954
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
$59,410
Kept after tax
$49,916
Worth in national money
$53,954
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for crane and tower operators is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $59,410. That is 44 of 50 states, and about 12.74% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Crane and tower operators ranks 211 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $59,410 the take-home is $49,916; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,954 would nationally. The average comes to $63,250, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For crane and tower operators, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $59,410, ranking 44 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 12.74%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 211 of 491 in Tennessee places crane and tower operators 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 crane and tower operators in Tennessee, on $59,410, is $49,916 — equivalent to $53,954 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 $63,250 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,090 |
| This salary | $59,410 |
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 | $49,916 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,916 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,587 |
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 | $59,410 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,129 |
| 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 $59,410. The published range is $40,890 up to $84,090, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,916 take-home in Tennessee comes from $59,410. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 211 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,954 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 211.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,890 to $84,090. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,916, from $59,410, assumes a single Tennessee filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 211 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,954, worked from $59,410, 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 211 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 $63,250, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,890 and the top tenth $84,090 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $53,954.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $49,916 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $63,250. 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 ($40,890) and the ninetieth ($84,090) 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 $53,954 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 $49,916 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.