Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,447
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$10,113
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,690
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
$62,560
Kept after tax
$52,447
Worth in national money
$56,690
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Tennessee pays this job around $62,560 at the midpoint, 27 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 171 among 491 occupations Tennessee publishes pay for.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $62,560 the take-home is $52,447; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,690 would nationally. The average comes to $63,380, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school the Tennessee median is $62,560, ranking 27 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 171 of 491 in Tennessee places special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Tennessee, on $62,560, is $52,447 — equivalent to $56,690 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 $63,380 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,360 |
| This salary | $62,560 |
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 | $52,447 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,447 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,719 |
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 | $62,560 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,288 |
| 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 $62,560. The published range is $49,860 up to $79,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Tennessee the take-home figure of $52,447, from $62,560, 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 171 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,690, the adjusted value of that $62,560 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 171 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,860 to $79,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Tennessee is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,447 from $62,560. 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 171 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $56,690 — the adjusted value of that $62,560 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 171 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $49,860 at the bottom tenth to $79,360 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Tennessee sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $56,690 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $52,447 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 ($49,860 to $79,360) 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 $56,690 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 $52,447 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.