Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,145
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$14,905
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,416
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
$80,050
Kept after tax
$65,145
Worth in national money
$70,416
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $80,050, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, this job comes in at 96 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $80,050 the take-home is $65,145; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,416 would nationally. The average comes to $82,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary: a median of $80,050, ranking 23 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary ranks 96 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 nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary in Tennessee, on $80,050, is $65,145 — equivalent to $70,416 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 $82,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,830 |
| This salary | $80,050 |
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 | $65,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,145 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,377 |
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 | $80,050 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,664 |
| 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 $80,050. The published range is $60,090 up to $109,830, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $65,145, worked from $80,050. 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 96 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,416 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 96.
- Reported values are medians; for nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,090 to $109,830. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $65,145, on $80,050 for work ranking 96 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 96 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,416, worked from $80,050, 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 96 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $60,090 at the bottom tenth to $109,830 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,416 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $65,145 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($60,090 to $109,830) 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 $70,416 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 $65,145 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.