Lawyers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$104,345
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$31,835
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$112,787
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
$136,180
Kept after tax
$104,345
Worth in national money
$112,787
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 20 of 51 states for lawyers, with a middle wage of $136,180. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, lawyers ranks 11 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $136,180 you keep $104,345, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $112,787 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $163,870, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 20 of 51 for lawyers at $136,180. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, lawyers sits 11 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for lawyers on $136,180 is $104,345. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $112,787 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $163,870 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $136,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $324,880 |
| This salary | $136,180 |
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 | $104,345 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $104,345 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,409 |
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 | $136,180 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,690 |
| 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 $136,180. The published range is $76,510 up to $324,880, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $104,345 take-home in Tennessee comes from $136,180. 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 11 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $112,787 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 11.
- Reported values are medians; for lawyers in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,510 to $324,880. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $104,345, from $136,180, 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 11 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $112,787, worked from $136,180, 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 11 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 $163,870, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,510 and the top tenth $324,880 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $112,787.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $104,345 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $163,870. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($76,510) and the ninetieth ($324,880) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $112,787 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 $104,345 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.