Diagnostic Medical Sonographers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,560
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$15,080
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,864
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
$80,640
Kept after tax
$65,560
Worth in national money
$70,864
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $80,640. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 16.51% 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 93 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $80,640 you keep $65,560 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $70,864 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $81,730, since top earners drag the number up.
- For diagnostic medical sonographers, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $80,640, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 16.51%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Tennessee, diagnostic medical sonographers ranks 93 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $65,560 after the full tax stack, from $80,640. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $70,864 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $81,730 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,830 |
| This salary | $80,640 |
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 | $65,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,560 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,398 |
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 | $80,640 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,694 |
| 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 $80,640. The published range is $62,220 up to $101,830, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $65,560, from $80,640, 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 93 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,864, the adjusted value of that $80,640 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 93 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for diagnostic medical sonographers in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,220 to $101,830. 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 $65,560 from $80,640. 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 93 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $70,864 — the adjusted value of that $80,640 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 93 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $62,220 at the bottom tenth to $101,830 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 $70,864 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,560 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($62,220 to $101,830) 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 $70,864 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 $65,560 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.