Physical Therapists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,278
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,862
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,693
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
$100,140
Kept after tax
$79,278
Worth in national money
$85,693
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 31 of 51 states for physical therapists, with a middle wage of $100,140. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, physical therapists comes in at 46 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $100,140 you keep $79,278, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $85,693 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $98,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Tennessee ranks 31 of 51 for physical therapists at $100,140. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Physical therapists ranks 46 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for physical therapists on $100,140 is $79,278. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $85,693 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $98,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Physical Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,500 |
| This salary | $100,140 |
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 | $79,278 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,278 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,109 |
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 | $100,140 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,676 |
| 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 physical therapists in Tennessee earn under $100,140 and half over. The published range runs $67,280 at the tenth percentile to $127,500 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $79,278 take-home in Tennessee comes from $100,140. 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 46 of 491.
- Two cautions on $85,693, the adjusted value of that $100,140 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 46 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapists in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $67,280 to $127,500; 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 $79,278, from $100,140, 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 46 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 51 for it.
- This $85,693 adjusted figure, worked from $100,140, 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 46 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 46 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $67,280 at the tenth percentile, $127,500 at the ninetieth.
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 $85,693 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $79,278 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($67,280 to $127,500) 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 $85,693 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 $79,278 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.