Technical Writers in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,793
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$14,757
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,036
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
$79,550
Kept after tax
$64,793
Worth in national money
$70,036
State rank
33
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for technical writers. The middle earner takes $79,550, ranking 33 of 45 states — about 11.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Tennessee reports, technical writers comes in at 97 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $79,550 the take-home is $64,793; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,036 would nationally. The average comes to $82,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 33 of 45 for technical writers, with a median of $79,550 — about 11.99% 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.
- Technical writers ranks 97 of 491 occupations by median in Tennessee, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for technical writers in Tennessee, on $79,550, is $64,793 — equivalent to $70,036 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 $82,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $108,890 |
| This salary | $79,550 |
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 | $64,793 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,793 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,359 |
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 | $79,550 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,639 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of technical writers in Tennessee earn under $79,550 and half over. The published range runs $50,430 at the tenth percentile to $108,890 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Tennessee's $64,793, worked from $79,550. 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 97 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Tennessee, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,036, the adjusted value of that $79,550 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 97 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for technical writers in Tennessee, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,430 to $108,890; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Tennessee take-home of $64,793, on $79,550 for work ranking 97 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 97 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Tennessee, so $70,036 — the adjusted value of that $79,550 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 97 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 $82,580, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,430 at the bottom tenth to $108,890 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $70,036.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $64,793 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. 45 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 $82,580. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($50,430) and the ninetieth ($108,890) 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 $70,036 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 $64,793 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.