Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,345
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,355
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,338
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
$58,700
Kept after tax
$49,345
Worth in national money
$53,338
State rank
48
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Tennessee pays this job a middle wage of $58,700, 48 of 49 states and about 25.08% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 217 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,700 you keep $49,345, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,338 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee's $58,700 median for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other places it 48 of 49 states, about 25.08% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 217 of 491 in Tennessee places engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other on $58,700 is $49,345. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,338 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 $65,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,810 |
| This salary | $58,700 |
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 | $49,345 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,345 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,558 |
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 | $58,700 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,093 |
| 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 $58,700. The published range is $42,320 up to $102,810, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,345 take-home in Tennessee comes from $58,700. 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 217 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,338, the adjusted value of that $58,700 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 217 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,320 to $102,810. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,345, from $58,700, 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 217 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $53,338 — the adjusted value of that $58,700 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 217 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $65,890 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,320 and the top tenth $102,810 — 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 $53,338.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $49,345 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 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $65,890. 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 ($42,320) and the ninetieth ($102,810) 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 $53,338 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 $49,345 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.