Reading a Tennessee pay stub, line by line
A Tennessee pay stub is the simplest in the country: three involuntary deductions, all federal. There is no state line at all — and no city or county can add one. Here is what each line means in 2026:
Federal income tax. Withheld per your federal W-4 — the only tax form a Tennessee new hire fills out, because the state has no withholding form and no state ID on the stub. The Department of Revenue's own guidance (GEN-34): "Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income and therefore has no withholding requirements."
Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500 in 2026) and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000). On a $60,000 salary these two lines take $4,590 a year — the entire payroll-tax bill in Tennessee.
Why there is no state line — and never will be without a statewide vote. Tennessee's constitution (Article II, §28) says the legislature "shall not levy, authorize or otherwise permit any state or local tax upon payroll or earned personal income." That clause is verified in the Secretary of State's published constitution; the ratification date, usually given as the November 2014 general election, comes from secondary sources rather than a state record we could read. The only income tax the state ever had, the Hall tax on interest and dividends, never touched wages and was phased out entirely for tax years from 2021.
What you will NOT see: a "TN SUI" or "TN SDI" line — unemployment insurance is employer-only (T.C.A. §50-7-401 says premiums "shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the wages"), and Tennessee has no disability or paid-family-leave program. No local occupational tax either: Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga are all barred by the same constitutional clause. If a stub shows any state or city tax deducted from Tennessee wages, it is wrong.
Tennessee paycheck facts — 2026
| Item | 2026 value |
|---|---|
| State income tax | None — barred by Tenn. Const. Art. II §28 (ratified in 2014 per secondary sources); Hall tax on investment income repealed 2021 |
| State withholding form | None — federal W-4 only |
| Employee-paid SUI / SDI / PFML | None — UI employer-only (T.C.A. §50-7-401), $7,000 employer wage base |
| Local income taxes | None — constitutionally prohibited |
| Minimum wage | $7.25 (federal) · $2.13 tipped cash wage · no city rates (preempted, T.C.A. §50-2-112) |
| Pay frequency | At least monthly; 5th/20th deadlines for semimonthly employers (T.C.A. §50-2-103) |
| Pay stub required? | No — no wage-statement statute; paydays must be posted |
| Final paycheck | The later of the next regular payday or 21 days — same rule fired or quit (§50-2-103(g)) |
| Coverage of the wage law | Employers with 5 or more employees |
What you actually take home in Tennessee (2026 estimates)
Estimated for a single filer taking the standard deduction. With no state or local tax, the only deductions are federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare:
| Gross pay | Est. net per year | Net biweekly | Net monthly | Effective tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $34,320 | $1,320 | $2,860 | 14.2% |
| $60,000 | $50,390 | $1,938 | $4,199 | 16.0% |
| $75,000 | $61,593 | $2,369 | $5,133 | 17.9% |
| $100,000 | $79,180 | $3,045 | $6,598 | 20.8% |
| Min wage, full-time ($7.25/hr) | $13,926 | $536 | $1,161 | 7.7% |
| Tennessee median wage ($22.78/hr) | $40,252 | $1,548 | $3,354 | 15.0% |
The Tennessee advantage in dollars: at $60,000 a Tennessean keeps $50,390 — about $2,250 more than the same salary in Georgia, $1,900 more than in North Carolina, $2,000 more than in Kentucky, and roughly $2,650 more than in Virginia — because the state takes nothing. The whole 16% effective rate is federal.
Full-time at $7.25 grosses $15,080 — under the $16,100 federal standard deduction, so that stub shows only Social Security and Medicare ($1,154 a year).
Methodology: 2026 federal brackets and $16,100 standard deduction (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), FICA per SSA. Tennessee has no state or local income tax and no employee-paid state programs. Estimates only — your withholding depends on your W-4, credits, and pre-tax benefits.
What Tennessee jobs pay (BLS, May 2025)
| Occupation | Median hourly | Median annual |
|---|---|---|
| Registered nurse | $39.18 | $81,500 |
| Software developer | $58.86 | $122,430 |
| Elementary school teacher | — | $59,980 |
| Truck driver (heavy) | $28.18 | $58,620 |
| Construction laborer | $21.64 | $45,000 |
| Customer service rep | $20.59 | $42,830 |
| Waiter / waitress (tips included) | $13.35 | $27,760 |
| Retail salesperson | $15.36 | $31,950 |
Tennessee's median hourly wage across all occupations is $22.78 — about 7% under the national median of $24.51 — but with no state tax, a Nashville nurse at the state median ($81,500) keeps roughly $3,000 more a year than the same nurse in Georgia.
Tennessee's workforce in numbers
- 7.3 million residents, civilian labor force of 3.5 million, unemployment 3.4% (Census 2025 estimate; BLS, July 2026 preliminary)
- 649,168 self-employed (nonemployer) businesses (Census, 2023) — about one for every 11 residents, and 4.3 times the number of businesses with employees
- 3.0 million people on employer payrolls at 150,129 establishments, earning $176 billion a year (Census County Business Patterns, 2023)
- Mean annual wage: $60,800 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Tennessee pay rules — the answers people actually need
Final paycheck: the later of your next regular payday or 21 days. T.C.A. §50-2-103(g) gives the employer until "the next regular pay day following the date of dismissal or voluntary leaving, or twenty-one (21) days ... whichever occurs last" — the same rule whether you quit or were fired, and one of the few states where the next payday can legally be skipped. Final wages must include vacation or comp time owed under company policy. Many websites invert this to "within 21 days"; the statute says the opposite.
Pay frequency: at least once a month. Since Public Chapter 362 (2017), an employer paying monthly must pay wages earned before the 1st by the 5th of the next month; employers paying twice a month follow the 5th/20th rule. Guides that still say "Tennessee requires semimonthly pay" are out of date. Paydays must be posted in two conspicuous places, and you must be told your wage before you start work (§50-2-101).
Is a pay stub required? No. Tennessee's Wage Regulations Act never mentions a wage statement, itemized deductions, or a stub — employers must post paydays and disclose the rate, nothing more. That makes Tennessee one of the states where a self-made pay stub is often the only income record a worker has. Tennessee does require a 30-minute unpaid meal break on shifts of six consecutive hours.
Small employers are outside the Act. The payday, final-pay, posting, and meal-break rules cover only "private employment" with five or more employees (§50-2-103(b)); at a four-person shop, federal law alone applies. Wage claims go to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Labor Standards Unit.
Minimum wage in Tennessee — one federal rate, no local overrides (2026)
Tennessee has no state minimum wage law: the federal $7.25 applies to FLSA-covered employers, unchanged since July 2009, and T.C.A. §50-2-112 preempts any city or county from setting a higher one. Two Tennessee-specific rules do apply: workers with disabilities cannot be paid a federal subminimum wage here (§50-2-114, since 2022), and tipped staff may be paid the $2.13 cash wage only if tips bring them to $7.25.
| Rate | 2026 | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard minimum wage | $7.25 | Federal rate; no state or local increase possible without new law |
| Tipped cash wage | $2.13 | Tip credit up to $5.12 (tipped = more than $30/month in tips) |
| Workers with disabilities | $7.25 | No 14(c) subminimum in Tennessee (T.C.A. §50-2-114) |
| Overtime | $10.88 | 1.5× after 40 hours in a workweek (FLSA) |
The market floor is well above $7.25: Tennessee retail salespersons post a $15.36 median and customer service reps $20.59. The lowest common median — waiters at $13.35 including tips — reflects the $2.13 cash wage.
How Tennessee compares with its neighbors (take-home on $60,000, 2026 est.)
| State | Est. net/year | Difference vs TN |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | $50,390 | — |
| Georgia (flat 4.99%) | $48,145 | −$2,246 |
| North Carolina (flat 3.99%) | $48,505 | −$1,885 |
| Virginia | $47,754 | −$2,636 |
| Kentucky (no local tax) | $48,408 | −$1,982 |
| Florida (no state income tax) | $50,390 | +$0 |
Tennessee, Florida, Nevada, and Texas all land on exactly $50,390 — the highest take-home of any state on this site, a four-way tie among the no-income-tax states. Every state bordering Tennessee taxes wages, Mississippi included, so if you commute into Kentucky, Georgia, or Virginia you will owe Tennessee nothing but will have something to settle with the work state. Exactly how each of those states withholds from a Tennessee resident is a detail we did not verify this round — ask that state's revenue department rather than assuming.
FAQ
Why is there no state tax on my Tennessee paycheck?
Tennessee has no income tax on wages — and its constitution (Article II, §28) forbids the legislature from creating any state or local tax on payroll or earned income. That clause is verified in the Secretary of State's published constitution, though the 2014 ratification date comes from secondary sources. The only income tax the state ever had, the Hall tax on interest and dividends, never applied to wages and was fully repealed for tax years beginning in 2021. Tennessee stubs show only federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare.
How much tax comes out of a paycheck in Tennessee?
Only federal taxes. A single filer earning $60,000 keeps about $50,390 a year — roughly $1,938 per biweekly check, a 16% effective rate covering federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare. There is no state, county, or city deduction.
Does Tennessee require employers to give pay stubs?
No. Tennessee's Wage Regulations Act (T.C.A. §50-2-103) requires employers to post regular paydays and tell workers their wage before they start, but it contains no wage-statement or itemized-deduction requirement. Most employers issue stubs voluntarily.
When is my final paycheck due in Tennessee?
By the later of the next regular payday or 21 days after you leave, whether you quit or were fired (T.C.A. §50-2-103(g)). It must include vacation or comp time owed under company policy. The rule applies to employers with five or more employees; smaller employers follow federal law only.
Can my Tennessee employer deduct unemployment insurance from my wages?
No. T.C.A. §50-7-401 says unemployment premiums are payable by the employer and shall not be deducted in whole or in part from employee wages. Tennessee also has no state disability insurance or paid-family-leave program, so there is no employee-paid state program line of any kind.
What is the minimum wage in Tennessee?
$7.25 per hour, the federal rate, with a $2.13 cash wage for tipped employees whose tips bring them to $7.25. Tennessee has no state minimum wage law and T.C.A. §50-2-112 preempts city or county rates. Since 2022, workers with disabilities may not be paid a subminimum wage in Tennessee.
Does Nashville or Memphis have a city income tax?
No. Tennessee's constitution bars any state or local tax on payroll or earned income, so no city or county — Nashville-Davidson, Memphis, Knoxville, or Chattanooga included — can withhold anything from your wages.