Public Relations Managers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,337
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$29,053
22.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$106,293
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
$127,390
Kept after tax
$98,337
Worth in national money
$106,293
State rank
23
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for public relations managers. The median is $127,390, ranking 23 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, public relations managers ranks 19 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $127,390 the take-home is $98,337; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $106,293 would nationally. The average comes to $131,930, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for public relations managers: a median of $127,390, ranking 23 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, public relations managers sits 19 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for public relations managers in Tennessee, on $127,390, is $98,337 — equivalent to $106,293 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $131,930 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Public Relations Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $127,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $192,800 |
| This salary | $127,390 |
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 | $98,337 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $98,337 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,097 |
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 | $127,390 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,247 |
| 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 public relations managers in Tennessee earn under $127,390 and half over. The published range runs $58,420 at the tenth percentile to $192,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $98,337, from $127,390, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 19 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $106,293, the adjusted value of that $127,390 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 19 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for public relations managers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,420 to $192,800; 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.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $98,337 from $127,390. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 19 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $106,293 — the adjusted value of that $127,390 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 19 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $131,930, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $58,420 and the top tenth $192,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $106,293 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $98,337 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.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $131,930. 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 ($58,420) and the ninetieth ($192,800) 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 $106,293 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 $98,337 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.