Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,915
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,825
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,739
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
$40,740
Kept after tax
$34,915
Worth in national money
$37,739
State rank
20
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 20 of 47 states for this job, with a middle wage of $40,740. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Tennessee this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 384. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $40,740 the take-home is $34,915; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $37,739 would nationally. The average comes to $42,620, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 20 of 47 for office machine operators, except computer at $40,740. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Tennessee reports, office machine operators, except computer ranks 384 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for office machine operators, except computer in Tennessee, on $40,740, is $34,915 — equivalent to $37,739 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 $42,620 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,320 |
| This salary | $40,740 |
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 | $34,915 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,915 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,810 |
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 | $40,740 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,189 |
| 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 office machine operators, except computer in Tennessee earn under $40,740 and half over. The published range runs $29,850 at the tenth percentile to $57,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $34,915, from $40,740, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 384 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,739, the adjusted value of that $40,740 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 384 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for office machine operators, except computer in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,850 to $57,320; 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.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,915 from $40,740. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 384 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $37,739 — the adjusted value of that $40,740 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 384 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $42,620, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,850 at the bottom tenth to $57,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $37,739.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $34,915 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.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Tennessee is $42,620. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,850 to $57,320) 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 $37,739 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 $34,915 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.