Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,902
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,578
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,645
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
$39,480
Kept after tax
$33,902
Worth in national money
$36,645
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $39,480. That is 46 of 49 states, and about 20.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 398 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,480 you keep $33,902, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,645 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $43,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $39,480, ranking 46 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 20.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners occupies position 398 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 septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners on $39,480 is $33,902. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,645 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 $43,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,760 |
| This salary | $39,480 |
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 | $33,902 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,902 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,757 |
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 | $39,480 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,125 |
| 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 septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in Tennessee earn under $39,480 and half over. The published range runs $29,880 at the tenth percentile to $60,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $33,902 take-home in Tennessee comes from $39,480. 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 398 of 491.
- Two cautions on $36,645, the adjusted value of that $39,480 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 398 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,880 to $60,760; 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 $33,902, from $39,480, 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 398 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 49 for it.
- This $36,645 adjusted figure, worked from $39,480, 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 398 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 398 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 $43,070, 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 $29,880 and the top tenth $60,760 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $36,645 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $33,902 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 49 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 $43,070. 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 ($29,880) and the ninetieth ($60,760) 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 $36,645 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 $33,902 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.