Chef pay in Tennessee after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median cook in Tennessee earned $35,810 a year in May 2024, which is $17 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 27,300 cooks the BLS counts in Tennessee earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $28,970 and $39,130. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Tennessee's tax, and Tennessee has no state income tax on wages.

What the median cook keeps in Tennessee

For a single filer on the median $35,810, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

Tennessee takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $1,791 a year against a state with a flat 5% tax on the same salary. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Tennessee ranks for cook pay

Of the 50 states, Tennessee ranks 30 of 50 on the gross median for cooks. The highest-paying state is Massachusetts at $46,280 and the lowest is West Virginia at $28,560. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Tennessee, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

None of Tennessee's neighbours beats it on take-home for cooks. Virginia, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the cook jobs are in Tennessee

The BLS count of 27,300 cooks is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($39,130 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Tennessee openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about cook pay in Tennessee

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Tennessee is $17 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($17) is what the typical cook makes.
• Comparing gross across states. Tennessee's zero state tax means its gross understates it against taxed states.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $33,810 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $38,810 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Nashville pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Tennessee, on one page

The Tennessee page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Tennessee this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Tennessee employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Chef. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.