Paramedics in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,534
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,156
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,461
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
$57,690
Kept after tax
$48,534
Worth in national money
$52,461
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 33 of 51 states for paramedics, with a middle wage of $57,690. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Paramedics ranks 228 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,690 the take-home is $48,534; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,461 would nationally. The average comes to $59,870, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 33 of 51 for paramedics at $57,690. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 228 of 491 in Tennessee places paramedics 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.
- Post-tax income for paramedics in Tennessee, on $57,690, is $48,534 — equivalent to $52,461 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 $59,870 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,190 |
| This salary | $57,690 |
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 | $48,534 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,534 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,516 |
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 | $57,690 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,043 |
| 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 paramedics in Tennessee earn under $57,690 and half over. The published range runs $41,410 at the tenth percentile to $80,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $48,534, from $57,690, 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 228 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,461 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 228.
- Figures are distribution medians for paramedics in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,410 to $80,190; 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 $48,534 from $57,690. 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 228 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,461, worked from $57,690, 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 228 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 $59,870 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,410 at the tenth percentile, $80,190 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,461.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $48,534 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.
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 $59,870. 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 ($41,410 to $80,190) 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 $52,461 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 $48,534 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.