Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,947
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$15,243
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,283
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
$81,190
Kept after tax
$65,947
Worth in national money
$71,283
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $81,190. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 9.94% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 90 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $81,190 you keep $65,947 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,283 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $82,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- For occupational health and safety specialists, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $81,190, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.94%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, occupational health and safety specialists sits 90 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $65,947 after the full tax stack, from $81,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,283 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $82,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,250 |
| This salary | $81,190 |
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 | $65,947 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,947 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,418 |
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 | $81,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,722 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $81,190 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,080 and the ninetieth is $119,250 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $65,947, worked from $81,190. 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 90 of 491.
- Two cautions on $71,283, the adjusted value of that $81,190 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 90 of 491 locally.
- The Tennessee median of $81,190 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,080 to $119,250. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Tennessee take-home of $65,947, on $81,190 for work ranking 90 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 90 of 491 in the state.
- This $71,283 adjusted figure, worked from $81,190, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 90 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 90 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,080 and the top tenth $119,250 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $71,283 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $65,947 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?
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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,080) and the ninetieth ($119,250) 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 $71,283 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 $65,947 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.