Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,842
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,318
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,499
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
$38,160
Kept after tax
$32,842
Worth in national money
$35,499
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,160, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 5.17% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 413 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,160 you keep $32,842 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,499 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 41 of 51 for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand, with a median of $38,160 — about 5.17% 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.
- Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand occupies position 413 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $32,842 after the full tax stack, from $38,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,499 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,420 |
| This salary | $38,160 |
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 | $32,842 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,842 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,702 |
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 | $38,160 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,059 |
| 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 $38,160. The published range is $30,230 up to $48,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $32,842, from $38,160, 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 413 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $35,499, the adjusted value of that $38,160 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 413 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,230 to $48,420. 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 $32,842 from $38,160. 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 413 of 491 locally.
- This $35,499 adjusted figure, worked from $38,160, 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 413 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 413 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 $40,020, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,230 at the tenth percentile, $48,420 at the ninetieth.
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 $35,499 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $32,842 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.
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 $40,020. 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 ($30,230 to $48,420) 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 $35,499 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 $32,842 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.