Rehabilitation Counselors in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,189
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$6,871
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,360
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
$46,060
Kept after tax
$39,189
Worth in national money
$42,360
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee sits in the middle of the pack for rehabilitation counselors. The median is $46,060, ranking 33 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Tennessee, this sits in the middle: 335 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,060 the take-home is $39,189; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,360 would nationally. The average comes to $46,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee occupies the middle band for rehabilitation counselors: a median of $46,060, ranking 33 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Rehabilitation counselors ranks 335 of 491 occupations in Tennessee by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for rehabilitation counselors in Tennessee, on $46,060, is $39,189 — equivalent to $42,360 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 $46,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Rehabilitation Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,800 |
| This salary | $46,060 |
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 | $39,189 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,189 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,031 |
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 | $46,060 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,457 |
| 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 rehabilitation counselors in Tennessee earn under $46,060 and half over. The published range runs $35,320 at the tenth percentile to $59,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $39,189, from $46,060, 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 335 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,360 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 335.
- Figures are distribution medians for rehabilitation counselors in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,320 to $59,800; 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 $39,189 from $46,060. 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 335 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,360, worked from $46,060, 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 335 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,320 at the tenth percentile, $59,800 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $42,360.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $39,189 survives, because Tennessee levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,320 to $59,800) 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 $42,360 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 $39,189 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.