Tennessee Paycheck Calculator
Estimate your take-home pay in Tennessee, which has no state income tax on wages and fully repealed its old tax on interest and dividend income back in 2021, leaving federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare as the only deductions from most paychecks.
This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Actual paycheck amounts may vary based on your employer, benefits, local taxes, filing status, and tax elections.
Your estimate will appear here
Enter your pay details and click calculate to see your estimated take-home pay, tax breakdown, and annual income.
Quick Answer
Tennessee has no state income tax on wages, so this calculator estimates your take-home pay using only federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), and Medicare (1.45%), plus any deductions you enter. Tennessee also has no local city or county income tax, so the calculator's estimate is complete without any additional local adjustment.
How It Works: Formula & Variables
Net Pay = Gross Pay − Federal Tax − Social Security − Medicare − Other Deductions
- Gross Pay
- Your total earnings before any deductions, hourly rate times hours, or annual salary divided by pay periods.
- Federal Tax
- Calculated using progressive tax brackets based on your filing status and taxable income.
- State Tax
- $0. Tennessee does not collect state income tax on wages.
- Social Security
- 6.2% of gross pay, up to the annual wage base limit.
- Medicare
- 1.45% of gross pay, with no wage limit (plus 0.9% surtax above certain thresholds).
Worked Examples
Example 1: Hourly worker in Memphis
Casey works 40 hours a week at $19 an hour. Gross weekly pay is $760. After federal income tax (around $70), Social Security (6.2%, or $47.12), and Medicare (1.45%, or $11.02), estimated take-home pay lands at about $631.86 a week, roughly 83% of gross pay. There's no state tax line to subtract.
Example 2: Salaried employee in Nashville
Jordan earns $70,000 a year, paid biweekly ($2,692.31 gross per paycheck), filing as Single. After federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare, estimated take-home pay comes out to roughly $2,180 per paycheck, about 81% of gross pay.
Example 3: Married couple in the Nashville suburbs
Sam and Robin file Married Filing Jointly with a combined salary of $92,000 a year, paid biweekly ($3,538.46 gross per paycheck). After federal tax, Social Security, and Medicare, estimated take-home pay comes out to roughly $2,830 per paycheck, about 80% of gross pay.
Key Concepts
Only the second state to repeal an income tax: Tennessee's old Hall Tax on interest and dividends was phased out one percentage point a year starting in 2017 before full repeal in 2021, a rare move among states that once taxed some form of income.
You still owe federal tax: Skipping state tax doesn't mean skipping taxes altogether. Federal income tax and FICA still apply the same way they would anywhere else in the country.
Sales tax fills the gap: Tennessee leans on a high combined state and local sales tax, among the highest in the country, to fund government services in place of an income tax.
No local income tax anywhere in the state: Nashville, Memphis, and every other Tennessee city or county skip local income tax entirely, unlike some no-income-tax states that still allow local wage taxes.
Useful for comparing job offers: If you're weighing a Tennessee offer against one in a state with income tax, run both through a paycheck calculator first. The gross salary numbers can look close while the take-home amounts differ by a few hundred dollars a paycheck.
Common Mistakes
Assuming no state tax means no tax: Federal income tax and FICA still come out of every paycheck in Tennessee. The savings only apply to the state line.
Forgetting about the sales tax trade-off: Tennessee's high sales tax rate offsets some of the savings from having no income tax, particularly for lower-income households who spend a larger share of income on taxable purchases.
Comparing gross salaries across states: A $75,000 offer in Tennessee and a $75,000 offer in North Carolina don't translate to the same take-home pay. Always compare net pay, not gross.
Ignoring pre-tax deductions: 401(k) contributions and health insurance premiums still lower your taxable income in Tennessee the same way they would anywhere else. Skipping these in your estimate makes it less accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Tennessee is one of nine states with no state income tax on wages, so your paycheck only has federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare taken out, not a state withholding line.
Tennessee used to tax interest and dividend income, though never wages or salaries, through what was known as the Hall Income Tax. That tax was phased out gradually starting in 2017 and fully repealed as of January 1, 2021, making Tennessee only the second state in modern history to eliminate an income tax entirely.
Your Tennessee take-home pay depends on your gross income, filing status, and any pre-tax deductions, but since there's no state tax to subtract, Tennessee workers generally keep a higher percentage of their gross pay than workers in income-tax states earning the same salary.
Federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to the annual wage base), and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% more for high earners) are withheld. There's no state income tax line.
No. Neither Nashville, Memphis, nor any other Tennessee city or county charges a local income tax. Tennessee relies heavily on sales tax, including one of the highest combined state and local sales tax rates in the country, to fund state and local government instead.
Yes, switch between the Hourly and Salary tabs and enter your wage or annual salary along with your pay frequency. The state is already set to Tennessee.