Veterinarians in Tennessee
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$96,259
after federal, FICA and Tennessee tax
Tax takes
$28,091
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$104,047
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
$124,350
Kept after tax
$96,259
Worth in national money
$104,047
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Tennessee is among the lower-paying states for veterinarians. The middle earner takes $124,350, ranking 33 of 49 states — about 4.42% 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, veterinarians comes in at 21 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Tennessee is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $124,350 the take-home is $96,259; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $104,047 would nationally. The average comes to $129,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Tennessee ranks 33 of 49 for veterinarians, with a median of $124,350 — about 4.42% 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.
- Veterinarians ranks 21 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 veterinarians in Tennessee, on $124,350, is $96,259 — equivalent to $104,047 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 $129,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinarians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $98,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $124,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,900 |
| This salary | $124,350 |
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 | $96,259 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $96,259 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,990 |
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 | $124,350 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,094 |
| 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 $124,350. The published range is $98,500 up to $167,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $96,259 take-home in Tennessee comes from $124,350. 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 21 of 491.
- Two cautions on $104,047, the adjusted value of that $124,350 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Tennessee. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 21 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinarians in Tennessee the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $98,500 to $167,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $96,259, from $124,350, 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 21 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 49 for it.
- This $104,047 adjusted figure, worked from $124,350, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 21 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 21 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $129,660, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $98,500 and the top tenth $167,900, so most people doing this work in Tennessee sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $104,047 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $96,259 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $129,660. 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 ($98,500 to $167,900) 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 $104,047 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 $96,259 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.