Museum Technicians and Conservators in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,104
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,606
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,187
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
$44,710
Kept after tax
$38,104
Worth in national money
$41,187
State rank
31
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,710, ranking 31 of 45 states — about 13.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 352.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,710 you keep $38,104 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,187 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $47,280, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 31 of 45 for museum technicians and conservators, with a median of $44,710 — about 13.08% 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.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, museum technicians and conservators sits at 352 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $38,104 after the full tax stack, from $44,710. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,187 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $47,280 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,470 |
| This salary | $44,710 |
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 | $38,104 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,975 |
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 | $44,710 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,389 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,710 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,910 and the ninetieth is $69,470 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $38,104, from $44,710, 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 352 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,187, the adjusted value of that $44,710 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 352 of 491 in the state.
- The Tennessee median of $44,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,910 to $69,470. 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 $38,104 from $44,710. 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 352 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $41,187 — the adjusted value of that $44,710 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 352 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 $47,280 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 $31,910 at the bottom tenth to $69,470 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 $41,187 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $38,104 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $47,280. 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 ($31,910) and the ninetieth ($69,470) 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 $41,187 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 $38,104 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.