Print Binding and Finishing Workers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,877
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,083
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,456
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
$36,960
Kept after tax
$31,877
Worth in national money
$34,456
State rank
46
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for print binding and finishing workers. The middle earner takes $36,960, ranking 46 of 50 states — about 12.6% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 421 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,960 you keep $31,877, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,456 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 46 of 50 for print binding and finishing workers, with a median of $36,960 — about 12.6% 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.
- Print binding and finishing workers occupies position 421 of 491 in Tennessee's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for print binding and finishing workers on $36,960 is $31,877. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,456 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 $39,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Print Binding and Finishing Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,750 |
| This salary | $36,960 |
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 | $31,877 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,652 |
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 | $36,960 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,998 |
| 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 print binding and finishing workers in Tennessee earn under $36,960 and half over. The published range runs $31,320 at the tenth percentile to $47,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,877 take-home in Tennessee comes from $36,960. 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 421 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,456, the adjusted value of that $36,960 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 421 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for print binding and finishing workers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,320 to $47,750; 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 $31,877, from $36,960, 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 421 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $34,456 — the adjusted value of that $36,960 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 421 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $39,160 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,320 at the bottom tenth to $47,750 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $34,456 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $31,877 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?
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.
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 $39,160. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,320 to $47,750) 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 $34,456 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 $31,877 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.