Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,385
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,485
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,727
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
$98,870
Kept after tax
$78,385
Worth in national money
$84,727
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 31 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $98,870. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Tennessee. It ranks 52 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $98,870 you keep $78,385, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $84,727 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $111,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 31 of 50 for health specialties teachers, postsecondary at $98,870. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Tennessee, health specialties teachers, postsecondary ranks 52 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for health specialties teachers, postsecondary on $98,870 is $78,385. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $84,727 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 $111,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $168,570 |
| This salary | $98,870 |
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 | $78,385 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,385 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,063 |
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 | $98,870 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,612 |
| 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 health specialties teachers, postsecondary in Tennessee earn under $98,870 and half over. The published range runs $48,030 at the tenth percentile to $168,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $78,385, from $98,870, 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 52 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $84,727, the adjusted value of that $98,870 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 52 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for health specialties teachers, postsecondary in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,030 to $168,570; 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 $78,385 from $98,870. 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 52 of 491 locally.
- This $84,727 adjusted figure, worked from $98,870, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 52 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 52 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 $111,700, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $48,030, the highest tenth $168,570, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $84,727.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $78,385 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $111,700. 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 ($48,030) and the ninetieth ($168,570) 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 $84,727 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 $78,385 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.