Finance calculators

Tennessee Paycheck Calculator

Updated Aug 17, 2026 By Jehan Wadia
Rate Formulas
State Income Tax Rate
0%
Tennessee has no state income tax
Minimum Wage
$7.25/hr
Federal minimum applies
Tipped Minimum Wage
$2.13/hr
Plus tips to reach $7.25/hr
Overtime Rules
1.5× after 40 hrs
Federal FLSA standard
Pay Type
The active mode is shown with a filled background, bold underlined text and a thicker border.
Quick-Fill Tennessee Occupations
Presets are representative Tennessee wages — you can always type your own values.
Income
$
Slider range: $15,000 – $500,000 (text box accepts any amount).
Hourly Equivalent ≈ $28.85/hr at 40 hrs/week
Pay Frequency
Federal Tax Withholding (W-4)
Filing Status
Applies the IRS higher-withholding rate schedule for two-earner situations.
$
$2,000 per child under 17; $500 per other dependent (annual total).
$
Annual interest, dividends, retirement income.
$
Annual deductions beyond the standard deduction.
$
Tax Exemptions
Are you exempt from any taxes?
Tennessee has no state income tax — you keep more of your paycheck!
92.30% take-home 7.70% effective federal + FICA rate
Take-Home Pay Across Periods
Per Paycheck (Bi-Weekly)
$0.00
Weekly
$0.00
Monthly
$0.00
Annual
$0.00
Gross Pay → Net Pay Summary (this period)
Gross Pay (this period)$0.00
Total Federal Income Tax Withheld$0.00
Social Security Tax (6.2%)$0.00
Medicare Tax (1.45%)$0.00
Additional Medicare Tax (0.9% over threshold)$0.00
State Income Tax$0.00 — Tennessee has no state income tax
Local Income Tax$0.00
Additional State Withholding (voluntary)$0.00
Total Pre-Tax Deductions$0.00
Total Post-Tax Deductions$0.00
Estimated Net Pay (Take-Home)$0.00
Detailed Itemized Breakdown
Federal and local tax amounts and their share of gross pay
ItemAmount% of Gross
FICA and state insurance tax amounts and their share of gross pay
ItemAmount% of Gross
Active pre-tax deductions and their share of gross pay
ItemAmount% of Gross
Active post-tax deductions and their share of gross pay
ItemAmount% of Gross
Take-Home Pay$0.00 · 0.00% of gross
Visual Breakdown of Gross Pay
No Tennessee state income tax — $0.00 withheld, so no bar is shown for it.
Where Your Gross Pay Goes
Text equivalent of the gross pay allocation chart
CategoryAmountPercent of gross

Slices use distinct pattern fills plus on-slice percentage labels so they are distinguishable without relying on color. Tennessee state income tax is $0.00 and therefore has no visible arc.

Explore What-If Scenarios

Step-by-Step Solution

Introduction

The Tennessee Paycheck Calculator shows how much money you really take home from each paycheck. Tennessee has no state income tax, so you only pay federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. That means more of your pay stays in your pocket.

Enter your pay and this tool does the math for you. You can pick salary, hourly, or tipped pay. Add your pay schedule, your W-4 details, overtime hours, and things like health insurance or 401(k) money. The calculator then shows your net pay per paycheck, per week, per month, and per year.

You also get a full breakdown of every tax and deduction, easy charts, and a step-by-step solution so you can see exactly where your money goes. Use it to check a pay stub, plan a budget, or compare a job offer in Tennessee. If you work in another state, try our general Paycheck Calculator or state versions like the Texas Paycheck Calculator and Florida Paycheck Calculator, which are also no-income-tax states.

How to use our Tennessee Paycheck Calculator

Enter your pay, how often you get paid, your W-4 details, and any deductions. The calculator shows your Tennessee take-home pay per paycheck, week, month, and year, plus a full breakdown of federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, and deductions. Tennessee has no state income tax, so that line is always $0.

Pay Type: Pick Salary, Hourly, or Tipped Employee. The fields below change to match your choice. For a focused view, see the Salary Paycheck Calculator or the Hourly Paycheck Calculator.

Quick-Fill Tennessee Occupations: Click a job like Warehouse Worker, Server, or Registered Nurse to fill in typical Tennessee pay. You can still type your own numbers after.

Annual Salary: Type your yearly pay before taxes, or drag the slider. Salary mode only. Not sure of your yearly figure? Use the Annual Income Calculator.

Hours Per Week: Enter how many hours you work each week. This shows your hourly equivalent pay. You can also check the math with our Salary to Hourly Calculator.

Hourly Wage: Enter your normal pay per hour. Hourly mode only. To go the other way, use the Hourly to Salary Calculator.

Base Hourly Wage (Tipped): Enter the cash wage your employer pays you before tips. Tennessee uses the federal $2.13 tipped minimum.

Tips Received This Pay Period: Enter the total tips you earned this paycheck. A warning shows if your wage plus tips falls under $7.25 an hour. Our Tip Calculator helps you estimate nightly tip totals.

Regular Hours Per Pay Period: Enter the hours you worked in one pay period, or use the slider. For hourly and tipped pay. A Time Card Calculator or Work Hours Calculator can total your shifts first.

Overtime Hourly Rate: Open the overtime box to see this. It fills in at 1.5 times your rate, and you can change it.

Overtime Hours Per Pay Period: Enter overtime hours worked past 40 hours a week. The Overtime Calculator breaks down premium pay in more detail.

Pay Frequency: Choose how often you are paid, such as weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly. See also the Biweekly Paycheck Calculator and Weekly Pay Calculator.

Filing Status: Pick Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household from your W-4. The Tax Bracket Calculator shows which federal brackets apply to you.

Multiple Jobs / Spouse Also Works: Check this box if you marked W-4 Step 2. It raises your federal withholding.

Dependents Credit Amount: Enter the yearly credit from W-4 Step 3. Use $2,000 per child under 17 and $500 per other dependent.

Other Income: Enter yearly income not from a job, like interest or dividends (W-4 Step 4a).

Deductions: Enter yearly deductions above the standard deduction (W-4 Step 4b). The Taxable Income Calculator can help you estimate this.

Extra Withholding Per Period: Enter any extra federal tax you want taken out each paycheck (W-4 Step 4c). Fine-tune it with the Tax Withholding Calculator or the IRS Withholding Calculator.

Legacy Allowances: Only for old pre-2020 W-4 forms. Federal allowances lower your taxable wages. State and local allowances do nothing in Tennessee.

Additional Withholding: Add extra federal, state, or local tax per paycheck. State and local are voluntary here, since Tennessee has none.

Pre-Tax Deductions: Enter health, dental, vision, 401(k), FSA, HSA, and other pre-tax amounts. Choose a fixed dollar amount or a percent of gross pay. See the HSA Calculator to plan health savings contributions.

Post-Tax Deductions: Name each after-tax item, like union dues or garnishments, and enter the amount. Click Add to include more or Remove to delete one. Roth savings can be modeled with the Roth 401k Calculator.

Tax Exemptions: Choose Yes to open the options, then mark if you are exempt from federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, or local tax. The state option is grayed out because Tennessee has no state income tax.

Calculate My Paycheck: Click to see your net pay, tax breakdown, charts, what-if scenarios, and step-by-step math. Click Reset to start over.

Tennessee Paycheck and Take-Home Pay Explained

Your paycheck has two numbers. Gross pay is what you earn. Net pay (take-home pay) is what lands in your bank account after taxes and deductions come out. In Tennessee, the gap between those two numbers is smaller than in most states. Our Gross Pay Calculator and Take Home Pay Calculator look at each side separately.

Tennessee Has No State Income Tax

Tennessee does not tax wages or salaries. The old tax on interest and dividends, called the Hall Income Tax, ended in 2021. Tennessee cities and counties do not charge a local income tax either. So your pay stub shows $0 state income tax, and no local income tax. Only federal taxes are taken from your wages. Compare states with the State Tax Calculator.

What Still Comes Out of a Tennessee Paycheck

  • Federal income tax — based on your W-4 form: your filing status, dependents, other income, deductions, and any extra amount you ask your job to hold back. See the Income Tax Calculator.
  • Social Security tax — 6.2% of your pay, up to a yearly wage cap. Details in the Social Security Tax Calculator.
  • Medicare tax — 1.45% of all your pay, plus an extra 0.9% on high earnings above $200,000 (or $250,000 if married filing jointly). The Payroll Tax Calculator covers all FICA pieces.

Your boss pays unemployment tax and workers' comp in Tennessee. Those are not taken out of your check. Tennessee has no state disability or paid family leave tax for workers. Self-employed? Use the Self Employment Tax Calculator instead, since you pay both halves of FICA.

Pre-Tax vs. Post-Tax Deductions

Pre-tax money comes out before taxes are figured, so it lowers your tax bill. Health, dental, and vision premiums, FSA, HSA, and commuter plans usually skip both income tax and FICA. A 401(k) lowers your federal income tax, but Social Security and Medicare are still charged on it.

Post-tax money comes out after taxes. Things like union dues, Roth 401(k), wage garnishments, and some insurance plans fall here. They shrink your take-home pay but do not lower your taxes.

Tennessee Wage and Overtime Rules

Tennessee has no state minimum wage law, so the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies. Tipped workers can be paid a base wage as low as $2.13 per hour, but base pay plus tips must reach at least $7.25 per hour. If tips fall short, the employer must pay the difference. Tips count as taxable income.

Overtime follows the federal FLSA rule: 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Tennessee does not require daily overtime. The Wage Calculator and Hourly Rate Calculator help you check your base rate.

How Pay Frequency Changes Things

How often you get paid does not change your yearly taxes much. It only changes the size of each check. Weekly pay means 52 smaller checks. Bi-weekly means 26 checks. Semi-monthly means 24, and monthly means 12. Bi-weekly and semi-monthly checks are close in size but not the same, so double-check which one your job uses. The Monthly Income Calculator converts any schedule into a monthly figure.

Why Take-Home Pay Matters

Most people in Tennessee keep about 75% to 90% of their gross pay. Use your net pay, not your salary, when you set a budget, plan rent, or apply for a loan. Try the Budget Calculator, the Rent Affordability Calculator, or the DTI Calculator once you know your number. Small changes matter: adding a few overtime hours, getting a raise, or bumping up your 401(k) all move that final number. Model a bump in pay with the Pay Raise Calculator, and see how a one-time payout is taxed with the Bonus Tax Calculator. To work backward from a target take-home amount, use the Net to Gross Calculator. Your effective tax rate is usually much lower than your top bracket.

Formulas used

Gross pay per period
\text{Gross} = \begin{cases} \dfrac{\text{Annual Salary}}{n} & \text{salary} \\ (r_{reg} \times H_{reg}) + (r_{ot} \times H_{ot}) & \text{hourly} \\ (r_{base} \times H_{reg}) + (r_{ot} \times H_{ot}) + \text{Tips} & \text{tipped} \end{cases}
Taxable wages after pre-tax deductions
W_{fed} = \text{Gross} - D_{pre,fed} \qquad W_{fica} = \text{Gross} - D_{pre,fica}
Adjusted annual wage (IRS Publication 15-T)
W_{annual} = \max\left(0,\; W_{fed} \times n + \text{Other Income} - \text{Deductions} - 4300 \times A_{fed}\right)
Federal income tax withheld per period
T_{fed} = \frac{\max\left(0,\; B + R \times (W_{annual} - \text{Threshold}) - \text{Dependents Credit}\right)}{n} + \text{Extra Withholding}
Social Security tax per period
T_{SS} = \frac{0.062 \times \min\left(W_{fica} \times n,\; 176100\right)}{n}
Medicare and Additional Medicare tax
T_{Med} = 0.0145 \times W_{fica} + \frac{0.009 \times \max\left(0,\; W_{fica} \times n - L\right)}{n}
Net (take-home) pay per period
\text{Net} = \text{Gross} - D_{pre} - T_{fed} - T_{SS} - T_{Med} - T_{local} - D_{post}
Take-home percentage and effective withholding rate
\text{Take-Home \%} = \frac{\text{Net}}{\text{Gross}} \times 100 \qquad \text{Effective Rate} = \frac{T_{total}}{\text{Gross}} \times 100

Frequently asked questions

Why is my state income tax showing $0.00?

Tennessee does not tax your wages. That is why the state income tax line always shows $0.00. It is not a bug or a missing number. You still pay federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare, so those lines will show real amounts.

Is this calculator accurate for my real paycheck?

It gives a close estimate using current federal tax tables, the 6.2% Social Security rate, and the 1.45% Medicare rate. Your real check may differ a little because of your employer's payroll rounding, mid-year raises, or benefits your employer sets up in a special way. Always compare the result to your pay stub.

Why does my paycheck differ from the calculator result?

Common reasons:

  • You missed a deduction, like a health plan or 401(k).
  • Your employer uses a different withholding method.
  • You hit the Social Security wage cap later in the year.
  • Your pay period had overtime, a bonus, or unpaid time.

Check each line on your stub against each field in the tool.

What is the difference between salary, hourly, and tipped mode?

Salary splits your yearly pay into equal checks. Hourly multiplies your rate by hours worked, plus overtime. Tipped uses a low base wage plus the tips you report. Pick the one that matches how your job pays you.

How do I enter my hours if I get paid every two weeks?

Enter the hours for the whole pay period, not one week. A full-time worker paid bi-weekly usually enters 80 hours. Weekly pay is usually 40 hours. Semi-monthly is about 86.67 hours.

Do I have to pay tax on my tips in Tennessee?

Yes. Tips are taxable income. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare all apply to reported tips. Tennessee takes no state tax on them. Enter your tips for the pay period so the tool taxes them correctly.

What does the minimum wage warning under tips mean?

It means your base wage plus tips works out to less than $7.25 per hour for the hours you entered. Federal law says your employer must add the difference. The warning shows the exact dollar gap so you can check your stub.

Should I check the Multiple Jobs box on the W-4 section?

Check it only if you checked Step 2 on your real W-4 form. It is for people with two jobs, or a married couple where both work. It uses a higher withholding table so you do not owe money at tax time.

How does a 401(k) change my take-home pay?

A 401(k) lowers your federal income tax because it comes out before that tax is figured. But Social Security and Medicare are still charged on it. So a $100 contribution cuts your take-home pay by less than $100, but not by as much as a health premium would.

Why do health insurance and 401(k) get treated differently?

Health, dental, vision, FSA, and HSA money skips both income tax and FICA. A 401(k) only skips income tax. That is why the tool tracks two different taxable wage amounts behind the scenes.

What is the Social Security wage base and does it affect me?

Social Security tax stops once your yearly wages pass the wage base cap ($176,100). After that, your checks get bigger because the 6.2% stops. The tool builds this cap into the math.

What is the extra 0.9% Medicare tax?

It is an added Medicare tax on high pay. It kicks in above $200,000 a year, or $250,000 if you file married jointly. Most workers see $0.00 on that line.

How do I add a deduction that is not on the list?

Open Post-Tax Deductions and click Add Post-Tax Deduction. Type a name, like garnishment or charity, and the amount per paycheck. Use post-tax for anything that comes out after taxes.

Can I enter a deduction as a percent instead of a dollar amount?

Yes, for pre-tax items. Each row has a $ Fixed Amount and a % of Gross Pay button. Percent is handy for 401(k) since most plans use a percent of pay.

What are legacy allowances and do I need them?

They are from W-4 forms filed before 2020. Each federal allowance cut your taxable wages by $4,300 a year. If your W-4 is from 2020 or later, leave them at zero. State and local allowance boxes do nothing in Tennessee.

When should I use the exempt options?

Only if you truly qualify. Some students, clergy, certain visa holders, and some government workers are exempt from parts of FICA. Marking exempt by mistake means too little tax is taken out and you could owe money later.

Why is the state exempt option grayed out?

There is no Tennessee state income tax to be exempt from. The option stays disabled so it cannot confuse your result.

How much of my pay will I actually keep in Tennessee?

Most Tennessee workers keep about 75% to 90% of gross pay. The exact number depends on your income, filing status, and deductions. The green badge at the top of your results shows your take-home percent.

Does getting paid weekly instead of monthly change my taxes?

No, not in a real way. Your yearly tax stays about the same. Pay frequency only changes how big each check is and how often it arrives.

What do the What-If cards show me?

They show how much extra money you would keep per year if you worked more hours or earned a higher rate. The numbers are after taxes and deductions, so they are real take-home gains, not gross pay.

Why is my overtime rate filled in automatically?

The tool sets it to 1.5 times your regular rate, which is the federal rule for hours over 40 in a week. You can type over it if your job pays double time or a shift premium.

Does Tennessee have a local city income tax?

No. No Tennessee city or county charges an income tax. Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga all show $0 local income tax. The local field is there only for voluntary amounts.

Do I pay unemployment or disability tax from my check?

No. In Tennessee, your employer pays unemployment tax and workers' comp. There is no state disability or paid family leave tax taken from worker paychecks.

How can I take home more money each paycheck?

Try these:

  • Update your W-4 if you claim too few dependents.
  • Remove extra withholding you do not need.
  • Move some savings from a Roth to a pre-tax 401(k).
  • Use an FSA or HSA, which skip income tax and FICA.

Just be sure you still withhold enough to avoid a tax bill.

Is a Tennessee salary really worth more than the same salary elsewhere?

On taxes, yes. A worker earning the same salary in a state with a 5% income tax pays thousands more per year. That said, cost of living, health premiums, and property tax also affect your budget.

What is the step-by-step section for?

It shows the exact math the calculator used, one step at a time, from gross pay down to net pay. Use it to check a pay stub line by line or to learn how withholding works.

Why does my error message say I cannot withhold more than my gross pay?

Your deductions or extra withholding add up to more than you earn this period. Lower one of those amounts, or raise your income figure, until the total fits inside your gross pay.

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