Nursing Assistants in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,705
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,285
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,351
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
$37,990
Kept after tax
$32,705
Worth in national money
$35,351
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for nursing assistants is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $37,990. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 10.1% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 491 occupations Tennessee publishes, nursing assistants lands at 414. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,990 you keep $32,705, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,351 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,230, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For nursing assistants, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $37,990, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.1%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Tennessee, this work ranks 414 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for nursing assistants on $37,990 is $32,705. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,351 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 $38,230 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,660 |
| This salary | $37,990 |
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 | $32,705 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,705 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,695 |
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 | $37,990 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,050 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,990 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,110 and the ninetieth is $44,660 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $32,705 take-home in Tennessee comes from $37,990. 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 414 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,351 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 414.
- The Tennessee median of $37,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,110 to $44,660. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $32,705, from $37,990, 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 414 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,351, worked from $37,990, 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 414 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,110 at the bottom tenth to $44,660 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 $35,351 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,705 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,110 to $44,660) 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 $35,351 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 $32,705 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.