Private Detectives and Investigators in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,841
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$7,519
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,226
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
$49,360
Kept after tax
$41,841
Worth in national money
$45,226
State rank
26
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Tennessee is 26 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $49,360. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 285.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,360 you keep $41,841, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,226 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $63,810, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 26 of 49 for private detectives and investigators at $49,360. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, private detectives and investigators sits at 285 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for private detectives and investigators on $49,360 is $41,841. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,226 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 $63,810 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,030 |
| This salary | $49,360 |
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 | $41,841 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,841 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,169 |
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 | $49,360 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,623 |
| 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 private detectives and investigators in Tennessee earn under $49,360 and half over. The published range runs $33,930 at the tenth percentile to $101,030 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $41,841, worked from $49,360. 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 285 of 491.
- Two cautions on $45,226, the adjusted value of that $49,360 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 285 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for private detectives and investigators in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,930 to $101,030; 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.
- The Tennessee take-home of $41,841, on $49,360 for work ranking 285 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 285 of 491 in the state.
- This $45,226 adjusted figure, worked from $49,360, 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 285 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 285 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 $63,810 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $33,930 at the bottom tenth to $101,030 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $45,226 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $41,841 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $63,810. 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 ($33,930) and the ninetieth ($101,030) 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 $45,226 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 $41,841 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.