Order Clerks in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,645
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,515
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,367
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
$39,160
Kept after tax
$33,645
Worth in national money
$36,367
State rank
46
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for order clerks. The middle earner takes $39,160, ranking 46 of 48 states — about 15.18% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 400 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,160 you keep $33,645 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,367 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $41,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee ranks 46 of 48 for order clerks, with a median of $39,160 — about 15.18% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Order clerks occupies position 400 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $33,645 after the full tax stack, from $39,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,367 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $41,330 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Order Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,590 |
| This salary | $39,160 |
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 | $33,645 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,645 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,744 |
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 | $39,160 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,109 |
| 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 order clerks in Tennessee earn under $39,160 and half over. The published range runs $29,790 at the tenth percentile to $55,590 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 $33,645, worked from $39,160. 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 400 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,367 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 400.
- Figures are distribution medians for order clerks in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,790 to $55,590; 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 $33,645, on $39,160 for work ranking 400 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 400 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,367, worked from $39,160, 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 400 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 $41,330, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,790 and the top tenth $55,590, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,367 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $33,645 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $41,330. 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 ($29,790 to $55,590) 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 $36,367 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 $33,645 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.