Occupational Therapists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,562
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,138
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,837
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
$97,700
Kept after tax
$77,562
Worth in national money
$83,837
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays occupational therapists around $97,700 at the midpoint, 30 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Tennessee. It ranks 54 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $97,700 you keep $77,562 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $83,837 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $95,080.
- For occupational therapists the Tennessee median is $97,700, ranking 30 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Tennessee, occupational therapists ranks 54 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $77,562 after the full tax stack, from $97,700. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $83,837 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $95,080 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,070 |
| This salary | $97,700 |
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 | $77,562 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,562 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,020 |
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 | $97,700 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,553 |
| 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 occupational therapists in Tennessee earn under $97,700 and half over. The published range runs $68,520 at the tenth percentile to $119,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $77,562, worked from $97,700. 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 54 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $83,837, the adjusted value of that $97,700 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 54 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational therapists in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $68,520 to $119,070; 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.
- The Tennessee take-home of $77,562, on $97,700 for work ranking 54 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 54 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $83,837 — the adjusted value of that $97,700 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 54 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $68,520 at the tenth percentile, $119,070 at the ninetieth.
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 $83,837 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $77,562 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?
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 ($68,520 to $119,070) 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 $83,837 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 $77,562 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.