School Psychologists in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,894
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$13,956
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,982
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
$76,850
Kept after tax
$62,894
Worth in national money
$67,982
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for school psychologists is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $76,850. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 19.94% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, school psychologists comes in at 111 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $76,850 you keep $62,894, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,982 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $77,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For school psychologists, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $76,850, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.94%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- School psychologists ranks 111 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 school psychologists on $76,850 is $62,894. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,982 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 $77,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $102,400 |
| This salary | $76,850 |
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 | $62,894 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,894 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,260 |
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 | $76,850 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,503 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Tennessee earn less than $76,850. The published range is $53,290 up to $102,400, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $62,894 take-home in Tennessee comes from $76,850. 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 111 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,982, the adjusted value of that $76,850 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 111 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for school psychologists in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $53,290 to $102,400. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $62,894, from $76,850, 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 111 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $67,982 — the adjusted value of that $76,850 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 111 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $53,290 at the bottom tenth to $102,400 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $67,982.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $62,894 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 ($53,290 to $102,400) 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 $67,982 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 $62,894 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.