Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,744
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$4,806
13.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,232
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
$35,550
Kept after tax
$30,744
Worth in national money
$33,232
State rank
39
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Tennessee pays this job a middle wage of $35,550, 39 of 46 states and about 7.97% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Tennessee this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 439. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Tennessee does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,550 you keep $30,744, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,232 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $35,310, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Tennessee's $35,550 median for switchboard operators, including answering service places it 39 of 46 states, about 7.97% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Tennessee reports, switchboard operators, including answering service ranks 439 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Tennessee income tax, retained pay for switchboard operators, including answering service on $35,550 is $30,744. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,232 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 $35,310 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,700 |
| This salary | $35,550 |
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 | $30,744 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,744 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,594 |
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 | $35,550 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,927 |
| 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 $35,550. The published range is $27,020 up to $46,700, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,744 take-home in Tennessee comes from $35,550. 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 439 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,232, the adjusted value of that $35,550 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 439 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,020 to $46,700. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,744, from $35,550, 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 439 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $33,232 — the adjusted value of that $35,550 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 439 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,020 at the bottom tenth to $46,700 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,232.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $30,744 of this wage reaches your account, because Tennessee takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,020 to $46,700) 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 $33,232 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 $30,744 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.