Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,869
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$5,081
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,448
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
$36,950
Kept after tax
$31,869
Worth in national money
$34,448
State rank
36
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,950, ranking 36 of 45 states — about 13.89% 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: 422 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,950 you keep $31,869 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,448 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $33,580.
- Tennessee ranks 36 of 45 for teaching assistants, postsecondary, with a median of $36,950 — about 13.89% 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.
- Teaching assistants, postsecondary occupies position 422 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.
- Retained pay in Tennessee is $31,869 after the full tax stack, from $36,950. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,448 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,580 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,270 |
| This salary | $36,950 |
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 | $31,869 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,869 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,652 |
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 | $36,950 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,998 |
| 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 $36,950. The published range is $22,580 up to $45,270, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $31,869, worked from $36,950. 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 422 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,448 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 422.
- Reported values are medians; for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,580 to $45,270. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Tennessee take-home of $31,869, on $36,950 for work ranking 422 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 422 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,448, worked from $36,950, 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 422 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $33,580, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $22,580 and the top tenth $45,270, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,448 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $31,869 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $33,580. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,580 to $45,270) 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 $34,448 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 $31,869 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.