Dental Hygienists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,374
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$16,266
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,906
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
$84,640
Kept after tax
$68,374
Worth in national money
$73,906
State rank
42
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental hygienists is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $84,640. That is 42 of 50 states, and about 13.72% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Tennessee. It ranks 78 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $84,640 you keep $68,374, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $73,906 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dental hygienists, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $84,640, ranking 42 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 13.72%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Tennessee, dental hygienists ranks 78 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for dental hygienists on $84,640 is $68,374. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $73,906 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 $87,420 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Dental Hygienists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,300 |
| This salary | $84,640 |
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 | $68,374 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,374 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,544 |
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 | $84,640 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,896 |
| 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 $84,640. The published range is $76,190 up to $98,300, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $68,374 take-home in Tennessee comes from $84,640. 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 78 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $73,906 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 78.
- Reported values are medians; for dental hygienists in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,190 to $98,300. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $68,374, from $84,640, 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 78 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $73,906, worked from $84,640, 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 78 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $87,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $76,190 at the bottom tenth to $98,300 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 $73,906 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $68,374 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $87,420. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($76,190 to $98,300) 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 $73,906 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 $68,374 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.