Social and Human Service Assistants in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,569
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,741
14.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,366
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
$40,310
Kept after tax
$34,569
Worth in national money
$37,366
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $40,310, ranking 35 of 51 states — about 12.24% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Tennessee, this one sits low: 388 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $40,310 the take-home is $34,569; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $37,366 would nationally. The average comes to $41,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 35 of 51 for social and human service assistants, with a median of $40,310 — about 12.24% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Social and human service assistants occupies position 388 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.
- Post-tax income for social and human service assistants in Tennessee, on $40,310, is $34,569 — equivalent to $37,366 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 $41,300 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social and Human Service Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,190 |
| This salary | $40,310 |
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 | $34,569 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,569 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,792 |
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 | $40,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,167 |
| 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 $40,310. The published range is $30,280 up to $52,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $34,569 take-home in Tennessee comes from $40,310. 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 388 of 491.
- Two cautions on $37,366, the adjusted value of that $40,310 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 388 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for social and human service assistants in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,280 to $52,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $34,569, from $40,310, 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 388 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- This $37,366 adjusted figure, worked from $40,310, 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 388 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 388 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,280 at the bottom tenth to $52,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $37,366 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $34,569 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,280 to $52,190) 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 $37,366 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 $34,569 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.