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Tennessee Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Tennessee take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and any local taxes for 2026.

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Quick answer

Tennessee imposes no personal income tax on wages or investment earnings, having phased out the Hall Income Tax on investment income years ago. At $85,000 single, the after-tax estimate is $68,628 per year. State revenue runs primarily on a high combined state-and-local sales tax plus business franchise taxes.

Tennessee taxes no personal income, leaving federal tax and FICA as the only paycheck deductions for a TN wage earner. The state once levied the Hall Income Tax on interest and dividend income, but that provision was phased out and fully repealed; wage income was never in scope. A wave of corporate relocations to Nashville (HCA Healthcare, Bridgestone, Dollar General, several finance and tech HQs) and Memphis (FedEx, AutoZone, International Paper) accelerated as remote-work patterns made low-income-tax states attractive for headquarters moves. State revenue comes from one of the highest combined state-and-local sales tax rates in the country, business franchise tax, and tourism-related receipts in Nashville, Memphis, the Smokies, and Chattanooga. Tennessee runs no SDI program, no Paid Family Leave deduction, and no city or county wage tax in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or any other municipality. At $85,000 for a single filer, federal income tax comes to $9,870, the combined FICA line is $6,503, and take-home for the year is $68,628. The effective total rate works out to 19.26%. Use the calculator below to model 401(k) or HSA contributions or compare TN against high-tax neighbors like North Carolina or Georgia.

Tennessee state tax breakdown

Tennessee has no state income tax on wage income. The calculator below applies only federal income tax and FICA to your gross pay.

Major Tennessee metros

These metros do not levy a separate city income tax; paycheck math runs the Tennessee state schedule above. Each metro page adds city-specific context (cost of living, major employers, commute patterns) on top of the state calculator.

NashvilleTennessee metro contextMemphisTennessee metro context

vs. baseline ($85,000 single filer)

Tennessee is one of nine US states with no broad-based personal income tax. The same $85,000 salary takes home approximately $4,900 more than in a high-tax state like California.

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Tennessee take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security at the federal rate up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Tennessee's state income tax schedule above, and any local income tax or state-administered payroll program (SDI, PFML, FAMLI) when you select a city or county. For states with no broad-based personal income tax, the state line is zero. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Tennessee paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Tennessee for 2026?
Federal income tax on $85,000 single in Tennessee comes to roughly $9,870, with the top slice of taxable income inside the 22% federal bracket after the standard deduction. Since Tennessee adds no state tax line, the federal and FICA totals are the complete withholding picture for a TN wage earner.
Does Tennessee tax wages at all?
Tennessee imposes no state income tax on wage earnings. The calculator's state line for Tennessee resolves to $0, an effective state rate of 0%. The historical Hall Income Tax applied only to investment income (interest and dividends), and that provision was phased out and fully repealed; wages were never within scope of any Tennessee state income tax.
Do Nashville, Memphis, or any other Tennessee city tax wages?
No Tennessee city, county, or special district levies a local income tax on employee wages. Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, and Murfreesboro residents all see the same simple pay stub: federal income tax and FICA, with no state or local layer above. The state's combined sales tax rate is among the highest in the country.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Tennessee?
At $85,000 single in Tennessee, the combined marginal rate is 22%, which equals the federal 22% bracket alone because Tennessee levies no state income tax. Every dollar of traditional 401(k) or HSA contribution reduces federal taxable income at that rate. The 2026 deferral and HSA limits apply normally at this income.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Tennessee?
Filing jointly at $85,000 in Tennessee produces take-home of about $72,658, roughly $4,030 more than the single filer above. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled standard deduction drive the change; FICA holds steady, and Tennessee adds no state line either way after the 2021 Hall Tax repeal. Head of Household at this income clears about $71,550, around $2,922 more than Single, on the strength of the wider HoH federal bracket schedule. Combined two-return MFS take-home lands roughly $4,030 less than MFJ, since federal MFS thresholds equal MFJ halved.
How does Tennessee compare to Kentucky at $85,000?
Kentucky applies a flat state tax on wages, so a Tennessee resident at $85,000 keeps roughly $2,857 more per year than a Kentucky counterpart on the same gross. Adding the Louisville Metro occupational license tax widens the gap further for Kentucky residents in major cities. Federal tax and FICA are identical between the two.

Take-home at common salaries for Tennessee

Dedicated salary-anchor pages with a federal-state-FICA breakdown, vs-baseline callouts, and a calculator pre-set to that salary and Tennessee.

$50,000 after taxesin Tennessee$75,000 after taxesin Tennessee$100,000 after taxesin Tennessee$150,000 after taxesin Tennessee$200,000 after taxesin Tennessee$250,000 after taxesin Tennessee

See also

Open the national paycheck calculatorAlabama take-home, for comparisonRun the same numbers against MissouriRun the same numbers against KentuckyVirginia take-home, for comparisonRun the same numbers against GeorgiaWork out per-paycheck pay from an hourly rate in TennesseeTurn an annual Tennessee offer into an hourly numberTennessee self-employed take-home, both FICA halvesCompare paycheck taxes between two locationsPaycheck and tax glossaryHow these estimates are built, line by line

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Tennessee paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal and state sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-06-25