Tennessee · BLS May 2025

Middle School Teacher Salary in Tennessee

BLS records this occupation as Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education” (SOC 25-2022).

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 13,060 middle school teachers working in Tennessee. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.

Median pay · Tennessee

$60,690A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.
Take-home a month$4,245After federal and FICA tax at 16.1%
Worth at national prices$66,061Prices here sit at 91.9 against 100
Against the nation5.7% belowNational median $64,370
What middle school teachers earn in Tennessee, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid$48,540Not published
25th percentile$50,780Not published
MedianHalf earn more, half less$60,690Not published
75th percentile$64,650Not published
90th percentileMost experienced and senior$76,830Not published
MeanThe average, pulled up by the top$61,030Not published
How we got this
  1. Median wage in TennesseeBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of middle school teachers earned more than this, half less.$60,690
  2. Take-home after federal and FICA tax$4,245 a month at an effective rate of 16.1%.$50,944 a year
  3. Worth at national average pricesPrices in Tennessee sit at 91.9 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$66,061
  4. Against the national medianThe national median is $64,370.5.7% below
  5. Jobs countedA concentration of 1 against the nation's 1.00.13,060
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

A $60,690 salary in Tennessee, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.

  • Federal income tax. $5,103 a year.
  • State income tax. Tennessee levies no state income tax on wages.
  • Social Security and Medicare. $4,643 a year.
  • Left over. $50,944 a year, $4,245 a month, an effective rate of 16.1%.

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What $60,690 is worth in Tennessee

Prices in Tennessee sit at 91.9 against a national average of 100, so $60,690 earned here buys what $66,061 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 79.1 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in Tennessee takes in $69,595, so this occupation's median is 0.87 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. As concentrated in Tennessee as it is nationally.

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Common questions

Middle School Teacher pay in Tennessee, answered

How much does a middle school teacher make in Tennessee?

The median wage for middle school teachers in Tennessee is $60,690 a year.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the take-home pay for a middle school teacher in Tennessee?

On the median wage of $60,690, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $50,944 a year, or roughly $4,245 a month.

That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 16.1%.

Tennessee levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.

Do middle school teachers earn more in Tennessee than in the rest of the country?

No. The median in Tennessee is 5.7% below the national median of $64,370.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Tennessee sit at 91.9 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $60,690 a good salary in Tennessee?

It is 0.87 times the median household income of $69,595. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in Tennessee run at 91.9 against a national average of 100, with rents at 79.1, so $60,690 here buys about what $66,061 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid middle school teachers earn in Tennessee?

The top tenth earn $76,830 a year or more, against $48,540 at the bottom tenth.

Experience, specialism, employer and the part of Tennessee someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many middle school teachers are there in Tennessee?

The survey counted 13,060 of these jobs in Tennessee for May 2025.

That makes the occupation exactly as concentrated here as nationally. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from