File Clerks in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,739
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,271
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,711
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
$43,010
Kept after tax
$36,739
Worth in national money
$39,711
State rank
24
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for file clerks. The median is $43,010, ranking 24 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 366.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $43,010 you keep $36,739 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,711 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,160, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for file clerks: a median of $43,010, ranking 24 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, file clerks sits at 366 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $36,739 after the full tax stack, from $43,010. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,711 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,160 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,020 |
| This salary | $43,010 |
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 | $36,739 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,739 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,904 |
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 | $43,010 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,303 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,010 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,460 and the ninetieth is $59,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,739 take-home in Tennessee comes from $43,010. 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 366 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,711 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 366.
- The Tennessee median of $43,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,460 to $59,020. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $36,739, from $43,010, 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 366 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,711, worked from $43,010, 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 366 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $26,460 at the bottom tenth to $59,020 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $39,711.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $36,739 of this wage reaches your account, because Tennessee takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($26,460) and the ninetieth ($59,020) 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 $39,711 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 $36,739 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.