Postal Service Clerks in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,969
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$10,241
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,255
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
$63,210
Kept after tax
$52,969
Worth in national money
$57,255
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Tennessee pays postal service clerks a middle wage of $63,210, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 1.74% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service clerks ranks 168 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,210 you keep $52,969 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,255 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $62,750.
- Tennessee's median for postal service clerks is $63,210, about 1.74% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 168 of 491 in Tennessee places postal service clerks 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 $52,969 after the full tax stack, from $63,210. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,255 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $62,750 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $63,210 |
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 | $52,969 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,969 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,746 |
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 | $63,210 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,325 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,210 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,600 and the ninetieth is $75,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $52,969 take-home in Tennessee comes from $63,210. 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 168 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,255, the adjusted value of that $63,210 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 168 of 491 in the state.
- The Tennessee median of $63,210 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,600 to $75,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $52,969, from $63,210, 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 168 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $57,255 — the adjusted value of that $63,210 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 168 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $75,030 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 $57,255.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $52,969 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $57,255 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 $52,969 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.