Locksmiths and Safe Repairers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,556
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,694
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,999
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
$50,250
Kept after tax
$42,556
Worth in national money
$45,999
State rank
27
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays locksmiths and safe repairers around $50,250 at the midpoint, 27 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 271.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,250 the take-home is $42,556; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $45,999 would nationally. The average comes to $53,430, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For locksmiths and safe repairers the Tennessee median is $50,250, ranking 27 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, locksmiths and safe repairers sits at 271 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 locksmiths and safe repairers in Tennessee, on $50,250, is $42,556 — equivalent to $45,999 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 $53,430 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,330 |
| This salary | $50,250 |
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 | $42,556 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,556 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,206 |
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 | $50,250 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,668 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,250 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $34,630 and the ninetieth is $72,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $42,556, from $50,250, 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 271 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,999 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 271.
- The Tennessee median of $50,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $34,630 to $72,330. 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 $42,556 from $50,250. 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 271 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,999, worked from $50,250, 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 271 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $53,430, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $34,630 at the bottom tenth to $72,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,999 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $42,556 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $53,430. 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 ($34,630) and the ninetieth ($72,330) 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 $45,999 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 $42,556 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.