Graphic Designers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,196
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,074
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,096
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
$57,270
Kept after tax
$48,196
Worth in national money
$52,096
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 32 of 51 states for graphic designers, with a middle wage of $57,270. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 231 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $57,270 you keep $48,196 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,096 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $62,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 32 of 51 for graphic designers at $57,270. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 231 of 491 in Tennessee places graphic designers 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $48,196 after the full tax stack, from $57,270. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,096 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $62,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,540 |
| This salary | $57,270 |
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 | $48,196 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,196 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,498 |
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 | $57,270 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,021 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,270 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,910 and the ninetieth is $92,540 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $48,196, worked from $57,270. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 231 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,096 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 231.
- The Tennessee median of $57,270 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,910 to $92,540. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Tennessee take-home of $48,196, on $57,270 for work ranking 231 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 231 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,096, worked from $57,270, 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 231 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 $62,670, 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,910 and the top tenth $92,540 — 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 $52,096.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $48,196 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 $62,670. 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 ($37,910) and the ninetieth ($92,540) 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 $52,096 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 $48,196 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.