Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,542
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$13,808
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,602
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
$76,350
Kept after tax
$62,542
Worth in national money
$67,602
State rank
26
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays this job around $76,350 at the midpoint, 26 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 119 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,350 you keep $62,542, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,602 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $77,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary the Tennessee median is $76,350, ranking 26 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary sits 119 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary on $76,350 is $62,542. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,602 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 $77,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $105,170 |
| This salary | $76,350 |
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 | $62,542 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,542 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,242 |
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 | $76,350 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,478 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,350 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,330 and the ninetieth is $105,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $62,542, from $76,350, 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 119 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 $67,602, the adjusted value of that $76,350 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 119 of 491 in the state.
- The Tennessee median of $76,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,330 to $105,170. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,542 from $76,350. 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 119 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $67,602 — the adjusted value of that $76,350 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 119 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $48,330 at the bottom tenth to $105,170 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $67,602 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $62,542 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,330) and the ninetieth ($105,170) 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 $67,602 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 $62,542 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.