Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,715
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$15,145
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,032
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
$80,860
Kept after tax
$65,715
Worth in national money
$71,032
State rank
43
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $80,860, ranking 43 of 49 states — about 20.03% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Tennessee this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 92 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $80,860 you keep $65,715, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $71,032 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $91,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Tennessee ranks 43 of 49 for social scientists and related workers, all other, with a median of $80,860 — about 20.03% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Tennessee publishes a median for, social scientists and related workers, all other sits 92 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.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for social scientists and related workers, all other on $80,860 is $65,715. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $71,032 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 $91,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,960 |
| This salary | $80,860 |
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 | $65,715 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,715 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,406 |
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 | $80,860 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,705 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,860 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $53,530 and the ninetieth is $129,960 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $65,715, worked from $80,860. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 92 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,032, the adjusted value of that $80,860 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 92 of 491 in the state.
- The Tennessee median of $80,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $53,530 to $129,960. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Tennessee take-home of $65,715, on $80,860 for work ranking 92 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 92 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $71,032 — the adjusted value of that $80,860 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 92 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $91,150 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $53,530 and the top tenth $129,960 — 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 $71,032 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,715 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $91,150. 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 ($53,530) and the ninetieth ($129,960) 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 $71,032 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 $65,715 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.