Industrial Engineers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,533
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,547
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,887
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
$99,080
Kept after tax
$78,533
Worth in national money
$84,887
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for industrial engineers. The middle earner takes $99,080, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 3.28% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, industrial engineers comes in at 51 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $99,080 you keep $78,533 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $84,887 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $101,000, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 41 of 51 for industrial engineers, with a median of $99,080 — about 3.28% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Industrial engineers ranks 51 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $78,533 after the full tax stack, from $99,080. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $84,887 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $101,000 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Industrial Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,040 |
| This salary | $99,080 |
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 | $78,533 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,533 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,071 |
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 | $99,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,623 |
| 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 $99,080. The published range is $72,200 up to $132,040, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $78,533 take-home in Tennessee comes from $99,080. 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 51 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $84,887 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 51.
- Reported values are medians; for industrial engineers in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $72,200 to $132,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $78,533, from $99,080, 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 51 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $84,887, worked from $99,080, 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 51 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $72,200 and the top tenth $132,040, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $84,887 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $78,533 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.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($72,200 to $132,040) 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 $84,887 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 $78,533 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.