Mechanical Engineers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,863
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,687
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,244
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
$99,550
Kept after tax
$78,863
Worth in national money
$85,244
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $99,550, ranking 35 of 51 states — about 4.38% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 47 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $99,550 the take-home is $78,863; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $85,244 would nationally. The average comes to $104,790, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 35 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $99,550 — about 4.38% 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.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 47 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for mechanical engineers in Tennessee, on $99,550, is $78,863 — equivalent to $85,244 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 $104,790 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,150 |
| This salary | $99,550 |
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 | $78,863 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,863 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,088 |
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 | $99,550 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,647 |
| 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 $99,550. The published range is $64,150 up to $156,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $78,863, from $99,550, 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 47 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 $85,244 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 47.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $64,150 to $156,150. 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 $78,863 from $99,550. 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 47 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,244, worked from $99,550, 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 47 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $104,790 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $64,150 at the bottom tenth to $156,150 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $85,244.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $78,863 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 $104,790. 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 ($64,150) and the ninetieth ($156,150) 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 $85,244 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 $78,863 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.