Helpers--Electricians in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,087
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,623
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,845
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
$39,710
Kept after tax
$34,087
Worth in national money
$36,845
State rank
31
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 31 of 47 states for helpers--electricians, with a middle wage of $39,710. 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--electricians ranks 395. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,710 the take-home is $34,087; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,845 would nationally. The average comes to $41,440, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 31 of 47 for helpers--electricians at $39,710. 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--electricians ranks 395 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.
- Post-tax income for helpers--electricians in Tennessee, on $39,710, is $34,087 — equivalent to $36,845 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 $41,440 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Electricians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,340 |
| This salary | $39,710 |
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 | $34,087 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,087 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,767 |
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 | $39,710 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,137 |
| 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 $39,710. The published range is $31,870 up to $48,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $34,087, from $39,710, 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 395 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,845 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 395.
- Reported values are medians; for helpers--electricians in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,870 to $48,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,087 from $39,710. 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 395 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,845, worked from $39,710, 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 395 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $41,440 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,870 at the bottom tenth to $48,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $36,845.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $34,087 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $41,440. 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 ($31,870 to $48,340) 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 $36,845 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 $34,087 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.