Forest and Conservation Technicians in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,700
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,240
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,993
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
$47,940
Kept after tax
$40,700
Worth in national money
$43,993
State rank
40
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $47,940. That is 40 of 45 states, and about 12.13% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 303 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,940 the take-home is $40,700; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $43,993 would nationally. The average comes to $51,720, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For forest and conservation technicians, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $47,940, ranking 40 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 12.13%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 303 of 491 in Tennessee places forest and conservation technicians 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.
- Post-tax income for forest and conservation technicians in Tennessee, on $47,940, is $40,700 — equivalent to $43,993 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 $51,720 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,140 |
| This salary | $47,940 |
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 | $40,700 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,700 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,110 |
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 | $47,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,551 |
| 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 $47,940. The published range is $41,660 up to $68,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,700 take-home in Tennessee comes from $47,940. 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 303 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,993 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 303.
- Reported values are medians; for forest and conservation technicians in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,660 to $68,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,700, from $47,940, 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 303 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,993, worked from $47,940, 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 303 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $51,720, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,660 at the tenth percentile, $68,140 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Tennessee is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,993 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $40,700 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $51,720. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,660 to $68,140) 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 $43,993 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 $40,700 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.