Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,976
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,574
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,048
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
$44,550
Kept after tax
$37,976
Worth in national money
$41,048
State rank
16
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,550, which ranks 16 of 48 states with published figures. That is about 5.17% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 355 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,550 the take-home is $37,976; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,048 would nationally. The average lands at $42,940, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 16 of 48 states publishing a median for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, at $44,550 — about 5.17% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 355 of 491 in Tennessee places helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters 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 helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Tennessee, on $44,550, is $37,976 — equivalent to $41,048 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 $42,940 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,720 |
| This salary | $44,550 |
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 | $37,976 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,976 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,968 |
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 | $44,550 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,381 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,550 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,620 and the ninetieth is $49,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,976 take-home in Tennessee comes from $44,550. 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 355 of 491.
- Two cautions on $41,048, the adjusted value of that $44,550 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 355 of 491 locally.
- The Tennessee median of $44,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,620 to $49,720. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $37,976, from $44,550, 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 355 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 48 for it.
- This $41,048 adjusted figure, worked from $44,550, 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 355 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 355 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 $42,940, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $34,620 at the bottom tenth to $49,720 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $41,048 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $37,976 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 48 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 $42,940. 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 ($34,620 to $49,720) 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 $41,048 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 $37,976 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.