Pharmacists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$102,438
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$30,952
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$110,726
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
$133,390
Kept after tax
$102,438
Worth in national money
$110,726
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for pharmacists. The middle earner takes $133,390, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 5.34% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, pharmacists comes in at 13 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $133,390 the take-home is $102,438; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $110,726 would nationally. The average lands at $131,270, below the middle of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 48 of 51 for pharmacists, with a median of $133,390 — about 5.34% 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.
- Pharmacists ranks 13 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for pharmacists in Tennessee, on $133,390, is $102,438 — equivalent to $110,726 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 $131,270 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $88,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $133,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $164,430 |
| This salary | $133,390 |
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 | $102,438 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,438 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,310 |
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 | $133,390 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,549 |
| 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 pharmacists in Tennessee earn under $133,390 and half over. The published range runs $88,700 at the tenth percentile to $164,430 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $102,438, from $133,390, 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 13 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $110,726, the adjusted value of that $133,390 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 13 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for pharmacists in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $88,700 to $164,430; 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 $102,438 from $133,390. 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 13 of 491 locally.
- This $110,726 adjusted figure, worked from $133,390, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 13 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 13 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $88,700 at the bottom tenth to $164,430 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 $110,726.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $102,438 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($88,700 to $164,430) 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 $110,726 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 $102,438 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.