Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,839
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,231
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,791
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
$58,070
Kept after tax
$48,839
Worth in national money
$52,791
State rank
37
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $58,070, ranking 37 of 50 states — about 7.35% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 225.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $58,070 the take-home is $48,839; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,791 would nationally. The average lands at $57,680, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 37 of 50 for kindergarten teachers, except special education, with a median of $58,070 — about 7.35% 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.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, kindergarten teachers, except special education sits at 225 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for kindergarten teachers, except special education in Tennessee, on $58,070, is $48,839 — equivalent to $52,791 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 $57,680 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,440 |
| This salary | $58,070 |
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 | $48,839 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,839 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,532 |
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 | $58,070 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,062 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,070 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,980 and the ninetieth is $74,440 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $48,839, from $58,070, 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 225 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $52,791, the adjusted value of that $58,070 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 225 of 491 locally.
- The Tennessee median of $58,070 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,980 to $74,440. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,839 from $58,070. 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 225 of 491 locally.
- This $52,791 adjusted figure, worked from $58,070, 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 225 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 225 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,980 at the bottom tenth to $74,440 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 $52,791.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $48,839 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,980 to $74,440) 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 $52,791 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 $48,839 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.