Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,883
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,307
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,867
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
$43,190
Kept after tax
$36,883
Worth in national money
$39,867
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $43,190, ranking 25 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 364 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $43,190 you keep $36,883 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $39,867 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders: a median of $43,190, ranking 25 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 364 of 491 in Tennessee places packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $36,883 after the full tax stack, from $43,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $39,867 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,810 |
| This salary | $43,190 |
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 | $36,883 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,883 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,912 |
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 | $43,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,312 |
| 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Tennessee earn under $43,190 and half over. The published range runs $33,050 at the tenth percentile to $62,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,883 take-home in Tennessee comes from $43,190. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 364 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,867 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 364.
- Figures are distribution medians for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,050 to $62,810; 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.
- Retained pay of $36,883, from $43,190, assumes a single Tennessee filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 364 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,867, worked from $43,190, 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 364 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 $44,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $33,050 at the tenth percentile, $62,810 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 $39,867 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $36,883 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 50 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 $44,500. 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 ($33,050 to $62,810) 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 $39,867 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 $36,883 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.