Postmasters and Mail Superintendents in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,596
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$20,574
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,955
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
$99,170
Kept after tax
$78,596
Worth in national money
$84,955
State rank
5
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $99,170, which ranks 5 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 2.6% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Tennessee. It ranks 50 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $99,170 you keep $78,596, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $84,955 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $100,610, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 5 of 50 states publishing a median for postmasters and mail superintendents, at $99,170 — about 2.6% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Tennessee, postmasters and mail superintendents ranks 50 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for postmasters and mail superintendents on $99,170 is $78,596. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $84,955 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 $100,610 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Postmasters and Mail Superintendents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $90,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,740 |
| This salary | $99,170 |
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 | $78,596 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,596 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,074 |
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 | $99,170 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,627 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Tennessee earn less than $99,170. The published range is $90,380 up to $111,740, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $78,596 take-home in Tennessee comes from $99,170. 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 50 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $84,955 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 50.
- Reported values are medians; for postmasters and mail superintendents in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $90,380 to $111,740. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $78,596, from $99,170, 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 50 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $84,955, worked from $99,170, 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 50 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $90,380 and the top tenth $111,740, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $84,955 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $78,596 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($90,380 to $111,740) 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 $84,955 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 $78,596 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.