Postsecondary Teachers, All Other in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,634
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$13,846
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,701
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
$76,480
Kept after tax
$62,634
Worth in national money
$67,701
State rank
20
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays this job around $76,480 at the midpoint, 20 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, this job comes in at 117 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,480 you keep $62,634, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,701 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $83,690, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For postsecondary teachers, all other the Tennessee median is $76,480, ranking 20 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Postsecondary teachers, all other ranks 117 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 postsecondary teachers, all other on $76,480 is $62,634. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,701 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 $83,690 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,280 |
| This salary | $76,480 |
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 | $62,634 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,634 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,247 |
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 | $76,480 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,485 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,480 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,890 and the ninetieth is $127,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $62,634, worked from $76,480. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 117 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,701 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 117.
- The Tennessee median of $76,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,890 to $127,280. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Tennessee take-home of $62,634, on $76,480 for work ranking 117 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 117 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,701, worked from $76,480, 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 117 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $83,690, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $47,890 at the bottom tenth to $127,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $67,701 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $62,634 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $83,690. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,890) and the ninetieth ($127,280) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $67,701 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 $62,634 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.