Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,390
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$9,610
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,467
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
$60,000
Kept after tax
$50,390
Worth in national money
$54,467
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Tennessee. The middle earner gets $60,000. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 10.19% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Tennessee reports figures for, this is number 203.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,000 you keep $50,390 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,467 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- For special education teachers, middle school, Tennessee sits in the lower band at $60,000, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.19%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Tennessee's occupational distribution, special education teachers, middle school sits at 203 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $50,390 after the full tax stack, from $60,000. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,467 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,490 |
| This salary | $60,000 |
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 | $50,390 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,390 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,612 |
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 | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,159 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,000 as a midpoint for Tennessee, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,640 and the ninetieth is $75,490 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $50,390 take-home in Tennessee comes from $60,000. 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 203 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,467 uses one figure for the whole of Tennessee. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 203.
- The Tennessee median of $60,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,640 to $75,490. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $50,390, from $60,000, 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 203 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,467, worked from $60,000, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Tennessee address, on work sitting at 203 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,640 at the bottom tenth to $75,490 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 $54,467 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $50,390 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,640 to $75,490) 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 $54,467 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 $50,390 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.