Optometrists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$102,971
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$31,199
23.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$111,302
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
$134,170
Kept after tax
$102,971
Worth in national money
$111,302
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 30 of 51 states for optometrists, with a middle wage of $134,170. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 12 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $134,170 the take-home is $102,971; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $111,302 would nationally. The average lands at $120,920, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 30 of 51 for optometrists at $134,170. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, optometrists sits 12 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.
- Post-tax income for optometrists in Tennessee, on $134,170, is $102,971 — equivalent to $111,302 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 $120,920 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,420 |
| This salary | $134,170 |
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 | $102,971 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,971 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,337 |
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 | $134,170 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,588 |
| 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 $134,170. The published range is $47,630 up to $167,420, 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 $102,971, worked from $134,170. 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 12 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $111,302, the adjusted value of that $134,170 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 12 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,630 to $167,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $102,971, on $134,170 for work ranking 12 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 12 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $111,302 — the adjusted value of that $134,170 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 12 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $120,920 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,630 and the top tenth $167,420 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $111,302 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $102,971 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.
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 $120,920. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,630) and the ninetieth ($167,420) 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 $111,302 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 $102,971 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.