Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,384
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,206
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,004
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
$37,590
Kept after tax
$32,384
Worth in national money
$35,004
State rank
28
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 28 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $37,590. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Tennessee this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 418. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,590 you keep $32,384, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,004 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $36,670, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Tennessee ranks 28 of 50 for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers at $37,590. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Tennessee reports, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 418 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on $37,590 is $32,384. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,004 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 $36,670 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,220 |
| This salary | $37,590 |
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 | $32,384 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,384 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,679 |
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 | $37,590 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,030 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,590 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,090 and the ninetieth is $44,220 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $32,384, worked from $37,590. 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 418 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,004, the adjusted value of that $37,590 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 418 of 491 locally.
- The Tennessee median of $37,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,090 to $44,220. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Tennessee take-home of $32,384, on $37,590 for work ranking 418 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 418 of 491 in the state.
- This $35,004 adjusted figure, worked from $37,590, 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 418 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 418 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,090 at the bottom tenth to $44,220 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 $35,004 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,384 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,090 to $44,220) 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 $35,004 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 $32,384 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.