Helpers--Carpenters in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,151
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,639
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,914
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
$39,790
Kept after tax
$34,151
Worth in national money
$36,914
State rank
30
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 30 of 47 states for helpers--carpenters, with a middle wage of $39,790. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Tennessee this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, helpers--carpenters ranks 394. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,790 you keep $34,151, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,914 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,670, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 30 of 47 for helpers--carpenters at $39,790. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Tennessee reports, helpers--carpenters ranks 394 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for helpers--carpenters on $39,790 is $34,151. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,914 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 $42,670 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,450 |
| This salary | $39,790 |
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 | $34,151 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,151 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,770 |
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 | $39,790 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,141 |
| 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 $39,790. The published range is $33,410 up to $55,450, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $34,151 take-home in Tennessee comes from $39,790. 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 394 of 491.
- Two cautions on $36,914, the adjusted value of that $39,790 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 394 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--carpenters in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,410 to $55,450. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $34,151, from $39,790, 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 394 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 47 for it.
- This $36,914 adjusted figure, worked from $39,790, 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 394 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 394 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 $42,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,410 and the top tenth $55,450, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,914 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $34,151 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $42,670. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,410 to $55,450) 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 $36,914 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 $34,151 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.