Dentists, General in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$160,188
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$55,102
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$173,148
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
$215,290
Kept after tax
$160,188
Worth in national money
$173,148
State rank
4
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is one of the better-paying states for dentists, general. The middle earner takes $215,290, which ranks 4 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 25.94% above the national middle.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, dentists, general ranks 3 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $215,290 the take-home is $160,188; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $173,148 would nationally. The average lands at $210,700, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 4 of 47 states publishing a median for dentists, general, at $215,290 — about 25.94% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, dentists, general sits 3 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for dentists, general in Tennessee, on $215,290, is $160,188 — equivalent to $173,148 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 $210,700 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dentists, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $84,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $215,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $311,900 |
| This salary | $215,290 |
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 | $160,188 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $160,188 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,303 |
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 | $215,290 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,975 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of dentists, general in Tennessee earn under $215,290 and half over. The published range runs $84,360 at the tenth percentile to $311,900 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $160,188, worked from $215,290. 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 3 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $173,148, the adjusted value of that $215,290 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 3 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dentists, general in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $84,360 to $311,900; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Tennessee take-home of $160,188, on $215,290 for work ranking 3 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 3 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $173,148 — the adjusted value of that $215,290 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 3 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $84,360 and the top tenth $311,900 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $173,148 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $160,188 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($84,360) and the ninetieth ($311,900) 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 $173,148 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 $160,188 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.