Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,823
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$3,847
12.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,994
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
$30,670
Kept after tax
$26,823
Worth in national money
$28,994
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $30,670, ranking 40 of 51 states — about 13.26% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 469 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,670 the take-home is $26,823; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $28,994 would nationally. The average comes to $32,590, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 40 of 51 for food servers, nonrestaurant, with a median of $30,670 — about 13.26% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 469 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for food servers, nonrestaurant in Tennessee, on $30,670, is $26,823 — equivalent to $28,994 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 $32,590 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,750 |
| This salary | $30,670 |
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 | $26,823 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,823 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,390 |
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 | $30,670 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,682 |
| 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 food servers, nonrestaurant in Tennessee earn under $30,670 and half over. The published range runs $22,620 at the tenth percentile to $46,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $26,823, from $30,670, 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 469 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 $28,994, the adjusted value of that $30,670 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 469 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,620 to $46,750; 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.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,823 from $30,670. 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 469 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $28,994 — the adjusted value of that $30,670 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 469 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $32,590, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,620 at the bottom tenth to $46,750 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 $28,994.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $26,823 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $32,590. 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 ($22,620) and the ninetieth ($46,750) 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 $28,994 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 $26,823 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.