Nurse Practitioners in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$91,555
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$26,035
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$98,962
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
$117,590
Kept after tax
$91,555
Worth in national money
$98,962
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for nurse practitioners is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $117,590. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 11.12% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, nurse practitioners comes in at 29 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $117,590 you keep $91,555, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $98,962 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $115,510, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For nurse practitioners, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $117,590, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.12%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Nurse practitioners ranks 29 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for nurse practitioners on $117,590 is $91,555. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $98,962 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 $115,510 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nurse Practitioners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $82,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $117,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,880 |
| This salary | $117,590 |
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 | $91,555 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $91,555 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,746 |
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 | $117,590 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,624 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of nurse practitioners in Tennessee earn under $117,590 and half over. The published range runs $82,790 at the tenth percentile to $137,880 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $91,555 take-home in Tennessee comes from $117,590. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 29 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $98,962 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 29.
- Figures are distribution medians for nurse practitioners in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $82,790 to $137,880; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $91,555, from $117,590, assumes a single Tennessee filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 29 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $98,962, worked from $117,590, 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 29 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $82,790 and the top tenth $137,880, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $98,962 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $91,555 of this wage reaches your account, because Tennessee takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 ($82,790 to $137,880) 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 $98,962 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 $91,555 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.