Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,069
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$10,021
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,282
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
$62,090
Kept after tax
$52,069
Worth in national money
$56,282
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 33 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $62,090. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 178.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $62,090 the take-home is $52,069; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,282 would nationally. The average lands at $61,560, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 33 of 51 for librarians and media collections specialists at $62,090. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, librarians and media collections specialists sits at 178 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 librarians and media collections specialists in Tennessee, on $62,090, is $52,069 — equivalent to $56,282 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 $61,560 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,140 |
| This salary | $62,090 |
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 | $52,069 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,069 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,699 |
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 | $62,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,264 |
| 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 $62,090. The published range is $36,860 up to $80,140, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $52,069, worked from $62,090. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 178 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,282, the adjusted value of that $62,090 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 178 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,860 to $80,140. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $52,069, on $62,090 for work ranking 178 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 178 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $56,282 — the adjusted value of that $62,090 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 178 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,860 at the bottom tenth to $80,140 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 $56,282 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $52,069 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,860 to $80,140) 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 $56,282 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 $52,069 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.