What is the median Tennessee salary in 2026?

Tennessee's median household income lands near $67,000 — close to $13,000 below the US median ($80,000), but rising faster since 2018 on Nashville's corporate-relocation inflows. Per-capita personal income is ~$57,000. These are statewide medians; Brentwood, Belle Meade, Franklin, and Lookout Mountain run 80-130% higher; rural West TN counties (Lake, Lauderdale, Hardeman) and Appalachian counties (Hancock, Clay, Grundy) run 30-45% lower. The phrase 'average TN salary' usually conflates median with arithmetic mean — the mean is pulled up by HCA executive comp, FedEx Memphis senior tier, Oracle Nashville packages, and country music's top songwriter and producer income.

Does Tennessee have any state income tax at all?

No. Tennessee imposes zero state income tax on wages, salaries, business income, contractor income, dividends, interest, capital gains, and retirement distributions. The Hall Income Tax (a 6% tax on dividend and interest income that ran for over a century, originally enacted 1929) was on a phased repeal: 5% (2017) → 4% (2018) → 3% (2019) → 2% (2020) → 1% (2021) → fully eliminated effective tax year 2022. Tennessee's Article II, Section 28 (voter-ratified 2014) bars the legislature from imposing a personal income tax on wages and salaries — repealing this constitutional protection would require a multi-year amendment process, not just legislative action.

How does Tennessee make up for having no income tax?

Sales tax does the heavy lifting. Tennessee's 7% state sales tax is the highest state sales tax in the country; local options add 1.5-2.75% on top. Combined: Nashville 9.25%, Memphis 9.75%, Chattanooga 9.25%, Knoxville 9.25%, Franklin 9.75% — second-highest combined sales tax in the US behind Louisiana. Property tax statewide effective ~0.48% — among the lowest. Tennessee also imposes a business franchise tax (0.25% of net worth, $100 minimum). The combined structure is appreciably regressive — consumption-heavy lower-income households feel the sales tax bite more than HNW residents, who capture most of the no-income-tax benefit through high savings rates.

How much do Nashville healthcare-services executives actually make?

Tennessee — and Nashville specifically — is the US healthcare-services finance capital. HCA Healthcare HQ has been Nashville-based since the 1960s; CEO Sam Hazen reported $24M in 2023 comp. Senior division presidents at HCA, LifePoint Health (Brentwood), and Community Health Systems (Franklin) cluster at $1.5-3M all-in. Managing-director-equivalent VPs and senior commercial executives run $400-700K. Beyond hospital-operator HQs, the Nashville cluster includes a deep PE / VC bench focused on healthcare-services rollups — generalist partners at these shops reach $1-3M+. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (~26K Nashville employees) runs academic-tier compensation 30-40% below private-practice equivalent.

Did Oracle actually move 8,500 jobs to Nashville?

Oracle announced 8,500 jobs at its Nashville Yards Riverfront campus in 2021. As of 2026, the ramp is partial — published Nashville-specific headcount falls well short of the 8,500 target, and Oracle's broader 2022-2024 workforce reductions affected the timeline. The campus is operational and Oracle remains anchored in Nashville, but actual employment has lagged the announced plan. Similar patterns hold for other announced moves: AllianceBernstein's 2018-2020 relocation is fully consummated, but Mitsubishi Motors North America's Franklin HQ runs smaller than initial announcements suggested. Treat announced corporate-relocation job numbers as a directional ceiling, not a near-term reality.

How does Tennessee compare to FL, TX, or GA for take-home?

Tennessee, Florida, and Texas all impose zero state income tax — wage take-home is identical across the three at any salary level (~$79,180 at $100K single, no 401(k)). The differentiation is non-wage: FL's property insurance crisis post-Ian/Helene/Milton lifts FL homeowner cost ~$8-15K coastal versus TN's ~$1,500 statewide; Texas's 1.6-2.5% property tax (no Prop 13-style cap) costs more than TN's 0.48% statewide average on equivalent home values. Versus tax-paying neighbors: TN saves ~$3,481 vs NC, ~$4,567 vs GA, ~$5,500 vs KY (with Louisville). The advantage holds across most income levels and spending profiles.

Tennessee Salary Guide — 2026

Tennessee Salary Guide 2026: Take-Home + Professions

Tennessee's salary landscape is two distinct stories: Nashville's healthcare-services-plus-music-plus-corporate-migration boom, and Memphis's logistics-dominated economy anchored by FedEx's world hub. Tennessee has zero state income tax on wages, investment income, or retirement income — the Hall Tax on dividends and interest (a 6% tax that applied for over a century) was fully repealed effective tax year 2022. Constitutional bar against personal income tax under Article II Section 28 of the Tennessee Constitution puts the no-income-tax pitch on appreciably more durable footing than mere legislative protection. The structural offset is the country's second-highest combined sales tax (Nashville 9.25%, Memphis 9.75%, Chattanooga 9.25%) — sales tax does the heavy lifting that income tax does elsewhere. Median household income lands near $67,000, lifted by Nashville's corporate-relocation boom but pulled down by rural West Tennessee and the Appalachian counties.

See Tennessee Tax Guide →Tennessee Paycheck Calculator →

Section 2

Tennessee take-home pay in 2026 at five common salary tiers

Figures use 2026 federal brackets per Rev. Proc. 2025-32, 6.2% Social Security to the $184,500 wage base, and 1.45% Medicare. Tennessee imposes zero state income tax on wages, salaries, business income, dividends, interest, capital gains, and retirement distributions — so the only state-and-local exposure beyond federal and FICA is property tax (county-by-county) and sales tax (consumption-based, not modeled here). Single filer, federal standard deduction ($16,100), zero 401(k).

Gross salary	Take-home (single)	Note
$50,000	$42,355	$3,530/month — Memphis, Knoxville, or Chattanooga comfortable; tight inside Nashville's urban core post-2020 housing run-up.
$75,000	$61,592	$5,133/month — middle of the road statewide; covers East Nashville, Memphis Midtown, or Chattanooga Northshore comfortably.
$100,000	$79,180	$6,598/month after taxes — Nashville, Franklin, or Knoxville Tier-1 comfort. Identical state-tax math to Texas and Florida at wage level.
$150,000	$113,791	$9,483/month — Belle Meade, Brentwood, Franklin's Westhaven, or Lookout Mountain accessible. Substantial advantage versus GA, KY, or NC at this tier.
$200,000	$148,927	$12,411/month after taxes. Additional Medicare 0.9% kicks in above $200K — not yet active at this exact threshold.

Two-earner married households see different FICA math because each spouse has their own Social Security wage base. Tennessee's biggest advantage isn't just zero state income tax — it's the constitutional bar against ever reintroducing one (Article II, Section 28, voter-ratified 2014). The offset is consumption tax: TN's 9.25-9.75% combined sales tax stack bites every retail purchase. Households with high savings rates and modest spending profiles capture most of the no-income-tax benefit; consumption-heavy households see the math closer to a wash. Use the calculator at the top for your specific filing status, 401(k) contribution rate, and HSA inputs.

Section 3

Where Tennessee's highest salaries cluster — by role and employer

Median compensation bands for senior practitioners and named TN employers. Typical pay ranges, not entry-level — junior versions of each role generally pay 40-60% less.

Healthcare-services executive — Nashville HCA-and-spinoffs cluster

$300K – $5M+ all-in

HCA Healthcare HQ Nashville (CEO Sam Hazen reported $24M in 2023 comp; ~50K TN employees within ~250K nationally), LifePoint Health Brentwood, Community Health Systems Franklin. Nashville is the US healthcare-services finance capital — most major hospital-operator HQs plus a deep PE / VC cluster around them.

Specialty physician (cardiology, oncology, ortho)

$400K – $700K

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (~26K Nashville), HCA TriStar, Saint Thomas Health (Ascension), Methodist Le Bonheur Memphis, Erlanger Chattanooga. Vanderbilt academic tier runs below private practice; Saint Thomas and TriStar private-practice cardiology and oncology reach the higher end.

BigLaw partner — Nashville / Memphis equity tier

$350K – $1.2M+

Bass Berry & Sims, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, Waller Lansden (Holland & Knight-merged), Baker Donelson, Butler Snow Memphis. Nashville BigLaw runs healthcare-services and music-IP specialties at near-NY rates; most partners clear $500K-1M with the $2M+ outlier in healthcare-PE M&A.

FedEx senior executive / pilot captain

$250K – $1.5M+ (exec) · $350K – $450K (senior captain)

FedEx Corporation Memphis (city's largest private employer, ~30K Memphis of ~250K worldwide). CEO Raj Subramaniam reported $13.6M in 2023 comp; senior division presidents clear $1.5-2.5M. Senior FedEx widebody-international captains rank among the highest-paid pilots in commercial aviation.

Anesthesiologist / Anesthesia CRNA

$420K – $620K (MD) · $200K – $280K (CRNA)

Vanderbilt, HCA TriStar, Saint Thomas, Methodist Le Bonheur, Erlanger. TN permits CRNA practice with physician supervision; CRNAs are the highest-paid nursing specialty.

Senior software engineer / staff (post-Oracle Nashville migration)

$170K – $320K + equity

Oracle Nashville Yards (8,500 promised jobs at Riverfront Yards, ramping), Asurion HQ Nashville (~6K), AllianceBernstein post-2018 NYC relocation, Bridgestone Americas R&D, Caterpillar Financial. Nashville tech comp has risen substantially with corporate-relocation inflows; senior IC packages now compete with Atlanta and Austin scale.

Country music songwriter / producer (top tier)

$200K – $2M+ (royalties + production fees)

Sony Music Nashville, Universal Music Group Nashville, Warner Music Nashville, BMI, ASCAP, Big Loud. Music Row's top tier — the cuts-on-multiple-hits writers — clear seven figures on royalties; producers on platinum albums reach similar ranges. The Pareto curve is steep: median Nashville songwriter income runs well below $80K.

Pharma / medical-device executive

$200K – $1.5M+

Smith & Nephew US HQ Memphis (~4K), Bridgestone Americas Nashville (~4K), Mars Petcare Franklin (~4K), Eastman Chemical Kingsport (~7K), International Paper HQ Memphis (post-2024 relocation). Senior R&D and commercial executives at these employers cluster at $400-700K all-in.

Data scientist / senior actuary — Nashville healthcare-finance corridor

$150K – $260K + RSU

HCA Healthcare analytics, Vanderbilt Medical, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (Chattanooga HQ), UnitedHealthcare Nashville. Healthcare-services analytics and actuarial work in Nashville is the highest concentration of healthcare-finance data work outside Minneapolis.

Specialty nurse — ICU, ED, OR

$95K – $145K

Vanderbilt, HCA TriStar, Saint Thomas, Methodist Le Bonheur, Erlanger. Magnet-hospital differentials add 15-25%; CRNA path adds another $80-150K. East TN and rural healthcare runs lower than Nashville and Memphis.

Section 4

And where Tennessee pays the least — typical floor jobs

Tennessee's state minimum wage remains $7.25 — Tennessee never adopted a state minimum above the federal floor, putting it at the lowest tier nationally (matching SC, NC, GA, AL, AK, NH, ID, IA, WI). The tipped sub-minimum is the federal $2.13 floor. These bands reflect that floor plus modest skill premiums and are full-time annualized — many of these jobs run part-time in practice, with effective annual income often below the band.

Retail cashier / sales associate

$26K – $33K

Walmart, Kroger, Dollar General (Goodlettsville HQ, Tennessee-based, ~17K HQ plus significant store count statewide), Publix, Tractor Supply Brentwood HQ. Dollar General's TN HQ scale gives modest premium for full-time corporate-attached hourly.

Food service / fast-food worker

$25K – $33K

Independents and chains. TN tipped minimum at the federal $2.13 floor; restaurant servers on Lower Broadway, Beale Street, or Knoxville's Market Square often clear $40-60K after tips on volume — tourism arbitrage.

Home health aide / personal care aide

$26K – $34K

TN's appreciable retiree-relocation and Medicaid-eligible aging population sustain constant home-health demand. BAYADA, BrightStar, Visiting Angels, Honor, plus a long tail of small operators. East TN (around Knoxville and the Smokies) runs slightly higher rates on retirement density.

Childcare worker / preschool aide

$25K – $32K

Bright Horizons, KinderCare, La Petite Academy, plus thousands of small operators. TN's credential-to-pay ratio is poor; CDA-credentialed aides rarely clear $30K. Nashville's tech and corporate-relocation inflow has not yet flowed through to childcare wages.

Hospitality housekeeping / hotel staff

$26K – $34K

Marriott, Hilton, Opryland Hotel Nashville (~2,800 employees), Peabody Memphis, Gaylord properties, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg resorts. Pigeon Forge tourism (~15M visitors to the Smokies) plus Nashville's bachelorette-tourism economy support summer hospitality pay above the year-round floor.

Distribution warehouse / FedEx ground worker

$32K – $45K

FedEx Ground hub Memphis (~30K), Amazon Memphis BHM1, Nissan Smyrna (~8K, UAW post-2024 contract base $24-29/hr), VW Chattanooga (~4K, UAW-organized 2024). FedEx Memphis schedules can push base above $45K with consistent overtime; the work is physically demanding and turnover runs high.

Section 5

Tennessee's economy — Nashville's healthcare-services capital, Memphis's logistics giant, and three rising metros

Tennessee splits into four practical economic zones. Nashville metro (Davidson, Williamson, Sumner, Rutherford counties) anchors the state's healthcare-services finance capital plus a corporate-relocation magnet plus the music industry. HCA Healthcare HQ has been Nashville-based since the 1960s; LifePoint Health Brentwood, Community Health Systems Franklin, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (~26K) round out a healthcare cluster that's the deepest outside of academic-medicine hubs like Boston or Houston. Oracle's Nashville Yards campus (8,500 promised jobs) and AllianceBernstein's 2018-2020 NYC HQ relocation kicked off a corporate-migration wave. The music industry — Sony Music Nashville, Warner Music Nashville, Universal Music Group Nashville — anchors Music Row. Franklin and Brentwood hold the highest-income suburbs.

Memphis (Shelby County) runs on logistics. FedEx Corporation's world hub at Memphis International is the largest cargo airport in the Western Hemisphere; FedEx Memphis employs ~30K of the company's ~250K global workforce and is the city's largest private employer. AutoZone HQ, International Paper HQ (post-2024 relocation), ServiceMaster, Smith & Nephew US HQ, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital round out the corporate base. Cost of living in Memphis remains among the lowest of any major US metro. Knoxville (Knox County) anchors federal-cleared technical work: TVA HQ (~10K), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (~5K), University of Tennessee, Pilot Flying J HQ (~2K), Discovery Inc post-merger.

Chattanooga (Hamilton County) anchors advanced manufacturing — Volkswagen Chattanooga (~4K, ID.4 EV production), BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee HQ (~5K), McKee Foods (Little Debbie, Collegedale), Unum, Erlanger Health. Tri-Cities (Kingsport / Bristol / Johnson City) runs on Eastman Chemical Kingsport HQ (~7K). Middle Tennessee outside Nashville runs on auto manufacturing — Nissan Smyrna assembly plant (~8K, the largest car plant in North America by volume) plus GM Spring Hill (~3K, Cadillac LYRIQ EV). The Smoky Mountain tourism corridor (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville) draws ~15M annual visitors and anchors East Tennessee's tourism economy.

Section 6

How Tennessee tax shapes your actual take-home

Tennessee is one of nine states with zero personal income tax. The other 8: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. Whatever you earn in Tennessee — W-2 wages, 1099 contractor income, business income, dividends, interest, capital gains, retirement distributions — the state doesn't touch it. The previous Hall Income Tax was a 6% state tax on dividend and interest income that applied for over a century (originally enacted 1929). The phased repeal completed effective tax year 2022: 5% (2017) → 4% (2018) → 3% (2019) → 2% (2020) → 1% (2021) → 0% (2022 onward). Tennessee's Article II, Section 28 (voter-ratified 2014) bars the legislature from imposing a personal income tax — repealing would require a multi-year constitutional amendment, not just legislative action.

The structural offset is consumption tax. Tennessee's 7% state sales tax is the highest state sales tax in the country; local options add 1.5-2.75% on top. Combined: Nashville 9.25%, Memphis 9.75%, Chattanooga 9.25%, Knoxville 9.25%, Franklin 9.75% — second-highest combined sales tax in the US behind Louisiana. Sales tax hits consumption-heavy lower-income households harder than HNW residents; the no-income-tax pitch is appreciably more valuable to high-earners with high savings rates. Property tax statewide effective ~0.48% — among the lowest. By county: Davidson (Nashville) 0.62-0.75%, Williamson (Franklin) 0.50-0.65%, Hamilton (Chattanooga) 0.60-0.75%, Knox 0.55-0.65%, Shelby (Memphis) 1.20-1.35% (outlier from Memphis school-funding mechanics).

Two filer-specific items materially shift the math. For TN-resident remote workers, New York's 'convenience of employer' rule can claim wages as NY-source income if you work for a NY-based employer from TN, unless the employer formally requires (in writing) that you work from TN for its necessity — not your convenience. Same trap exists with Delaware, Nebraska, and limited variants in CT / MA / PA. TN has no income tax to credit against, so the NY tax is a pure additional cost. For retirees: Tennessee fully exempts pensions, Social Security, IRA distributions, and 401(k) withdrawals. No state estate or inheritance tax. The retiree-relocation pull from FL is real — TN now competes with FL for the snowbird audience.

Section 7

$100,000 in Tennessee vs Southeast peer states — same gross, different take-home

Single filer, $100,000 gross, no 401(k) contribution, federal standard deduction. State tax only — federal and FICA are identical across all five. Tennessee has no city or county income tax, no state income tax, and no estate or inheritance tax — so the published state-only number is also the all-in state-and-local number on wages. Property tax (county-by-county) and sales tax (consumption-based) sit outside this table.

Tennessee (baseline)

Take-home ~$79,180

State tax $0 (no income tax). Combined 9.25-9.75% sales tax bites on every retail purchase but isn't in this wage-only math.

Kentucky

−$5,500 vs TN

KY 4% flat for 2026 + Louisville 2.2% city tax ≈ $5,500 at $100K. Take-home ~$73,680. Bowling Green or Lexington residents avoid the city stack, saving ~$2,000.

Georgia

−$4,567 vs TN

GA 5.19% flat (2026; phasing to 4.99% by 2029) with $12K SD. Take-home ~$74,613. No Atlanta city income tax. GA's $65K retirement-income exemption at 65+ flips this for retirees.

North Carolina

−$3,481 vs TN

NC 3.99% flat (endpoint of 2013-2026 phase-down) with $12,750 SD. Take-home ~$75,699. No city or county tax stack.

Florida

≈ even vs TN

FL 0% state income tax — take-home ~$79,180, identical to TN at wage level. Differentiated on property tax (FL ~0.83% vs TN ~0.48% statewide) and property insurance (FL post-Ian coastal ~$8-15K vs TN ~$1,500 statewide).