Tennessee Paycheck Calculator
Reviewed Sep 25, 2026 IRS Pub 15-T 2026, Tennessee DOR How we verify
Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. General information; laws vary by state. Terms of use
Tennessee paycheck calculator for tax year 2026: take-home pay and what the employer pays, per paycheck and per year. Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income and no state withholding requirement (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding), so a Tennessee paycheck carries federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare only. Figures checked on September 25, 2026; the result is an estimate, not tax advice.
Take-home pay and employer cost
Example: $2,000.00 gross pay per paycheck, paid every two weeks (26 paychecks a year), single, with the default Form W-4 entries below
Take-home pay
$1,690.85 per paycheck
$43,962.10 per year
| Line | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,000.00 | $52,000.00 |
| Federal income tax withholding | $156.15 | $4,059.90 |
| Social Security | $124.00 | $3,224.00 |
| Medicare | $29.00 | $754.00 |
| Take-home pay | $1,690.85 | $43,962.10 |
What the employer pays
$2,219.00 per paycheck
$56,209.00 per year
| Line | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,000.00 | $52,000.00 |
| Social Security (employer match) | $124.00 | $3,224.00 |
| Medicare (employer match) | $29.00 | $754.00 |
| Federal unemployment (FUTA) | $12.00 | $42.00 |
| State unemployment (new-employer rate) | $54.00 | $189.00 |
| Total employer cost | $2,219.00 | $56,209.00 |
Sources: IRS Pub 15-T 2026 and Tennessee DOR, checked September 25, 2026. Estimate for tax year 2026. Not tax advice.
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How Tennessee taxes a paycheck
No Tennessee income tax is withheld (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding), so the estimate starts from federal income tax withholding under the IRS Publication 15-T percentage method, Social Security and Medicare. Social Security takes 6.2% of wages up to $184,500 a year and Medicare 1.45% of all wages (plus 0.9% on wages above $200,000 a year), and the employer pays Social Security and Medicare again at the same rates (Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide). The oldest Tennessee document behind these figures was checked on September 25, 2026.
That statement comes from the Department of Revenue's own guidance on withholding. Employers in Tennessee do not register for a state withholding account and employees do not complete a state certificate. The federal Form W-4 is the only form that affects the income tax taken from pay.
Tennessee once had a narrow income tax, the Hall income tax, but it reached only interest from bonds and notes and dividends from stock, never salaries or wages. It was repealed for tax periods beginning in 2021, so the tax that once appeared on some Tennessee returns has no bearing on a paycheck (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding).
Because nothing is withheld for the state, the payroll paperwork a Tennessee employer files with the state concerns unemployment insurance rather than income tax. Every employer in Tennessee completes an online registration with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and that registration decides whether the business is liable for unemployment premiums (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-33 Unemployment Tax). None of that registration changes what the employee sees on the pay stub.
Tennessee's wage payment law sets how often and how late pay may arrive (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks). Private employers pay at least monthly. When pay comes more often, wages earned in the first half of a month are due by the fifth of the next month, and wages earned in the rest of the month are due by the twentieth of the next month (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks). The deadline for the last paycheck after someone quits or is let go is also set by that statute, as summarized on the Department of Labor page (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks).
No Tennessee deduction appears in this estimate. Take home pay in Tennessee is therefore gross pay minus federal withholding, Social Security, Medicare and any pre-tax benefits the employee chooses, such as retirement plan deferrals or health premiums paid through a cafeteria plan at work.
Tennessee has no minimum wage law of its own (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Should I be paid minimum wage?). Employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act pay at least the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, so a minimum wage paycheck in Tennessee is built on the federal floor, and the only amounts taken out of it are federal withholding, Social Security and Medicare.
The employer's side in Tennessee
A Tennessee employer pays the employer share of Social Security and Medicare, federal unemployment tax after the full state credit, and Tennessee unemployment insurance premiums on each employee's wages up to the state's taxable wage base. Those premiums are handled by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development rather than the Department of Revenue (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-33 Unemployment Tax), and they are an employer cost, never a deduction from pay. The employer column shows the standard new employer rate that applies outside the manufacturing sectors.
The new employer rate in Tennessee depends on the industry. New employers in the manufacturing sectors named by the department pay a rate drawn from the combined reserve experience of their sector (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?), while all other industries share one standard new employer rate (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?). The employer column of this calculator applies that standard rate. After the qualifying period ending on a December computation date, the employer moves to its own experience rate, which follows its reserve ratio: premiums paid minus benefits charged, measured against its average payroll (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?).
Every employer also owes federal unemployment tax (FUTA): 6% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year. With the full 5.4% credit for state unemployment tax paid on time, the net rate is 0.6%, at most $42 per employee a year (IRS Topic no. 759, Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return).
In Tennessee, a new employer pays state unemployment tax at 2.7% on the first $7,000 of each employee's wages a year (U.S. DOL, Office of Unemployment Insurance: Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026). Later the rate follows the employer's own record, so the line in the result is the starting cost, not a fixed one.
Payday and final pay rules in Tennessee
The Tennessee payday and final pay rules are pending on the Desk: their sources are listed on the Tennessee employment rules page.
The full Tennessee rules, with each law quoted: Tennessee employment rules. The date a final paycheck is due for a given last day: final paycheck calculator.
Worked examples
Three pay levels for a single filer paid every two weeks, with the default entries of the form, computed with the same code as the calculator.
| Gross pay per paycheck | Federal income tax per paycheck | Social Security and Medicare per paycheck | Take-home pay per paycheck | Employer cost per paycheck |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,200.00 | $60.15 | $91.80 | $1,048.05 | $1,331.40 |
| $2,500.00 | $216.15 | $191.25 | $2,092.60 | $2,773.75 |
| $5,000.00 | $766.69 | $382.50 | $3,850.81 | $5,547.50 |
At $2,500.00 per paycheck the employee takes home $54,407.60 per year, and the employer spends $70,203.50 per year on that job before benefits.
Method and sources
- Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income and no withholding requirement. Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Tennessee Department of Revenue, Hall Income Tax. two official documents
- Year the Hall income tax (interest and dividends only) was repealed: 2021. Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Tennessee Department of Revenue, Hall Income Tax. two official documents
- Tennessee unemployment insurance premiums are an employer liability collected by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-33 Unemployment Tax, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Unemployment Insurance Tax. two official documents
- Private employers pay wages at least monthly (Tenn. Code Ann. 50-2-103). Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks, checked September 30, 2026. single official source
- Due dates when wages are paid more than once a month (Tenn. Code Ann. 50-2-103). Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks, checked September 30, 2026. single official source
- Tennessee has no state minimum wage law. Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Should I be paid minimum wage?, checked September 25, 2026. Second document: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: State Minimum Wage Laws. two official documents
- Federal minimum wage (applies in Tennessee): $7.25. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: State Minimum Wage Laws, checked October 4, 2026. Second document: U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum Wage. two official documents
- New employer premium rates follow the reserve experience of the employer's industry sector. Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?, checked September 29, 2026. single official source
- How an experience-rated employer's reserve ratio is computed. Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?, checked September 29, 2026. single official source
- New employer premium rate: manufacturing sectors follow their sector, all other industries share one standard new employer rate. Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: How is my premium rate determined?, checked September 29, 2026. single official source
Federal figures used on every Pay Desk page:
- Pub 15-T edition: for use in 2026 (wages paid from January 1, 2026). Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, checked September 29, 2026. single official source
- Social Security tax rate withheld from the employee (the employer pays the same): 6.2%. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates. two official documents
- Social Security wage base for 2026: $184,500. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates. two official documents
- Medicare tax rate withheld from the employee (the employer pays the same): 1.45%. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, checked September 29, 2026. Second document: Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates. two official documents
- Per paycheck and per year. Per paycheck is one paycheck early in the year, before any yearly wage base is reached; per year is the full year at this pay with every wage base applied (Social Security, unemployment tax and any capped state contribution).
- Forms W-4 from before 2020. Not covered: the federal line follows Worksheet 1A for the 2020 and later form.
- Tax year 2027. When this page was checked (September 29, 2026) the IRS had not published the 2027 withholding tables (IRS page of forms and publications posted before release), so the calculator stays on tax year 2026.
- What it leaves out. Local taxes the form does not ask for, workers' compensation insurance, benefits the employer pays, and supplemental pay such as bonuses.
Questions people ask
Does Tennessee withhold state income tax from wages?
No. Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income and no withholding requirement (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding).
What was the Hall income tax, and does it affect my paycheck?
The Hall income tax applied only to interest and dividends, not to wages. It was repealed for tax periods beginning in 2021, so it has no effect on a paycheck (Tennessee Department of Revenue, GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding).
When is the final paycheck due in Tennessee?
The deadline is set by Tennessee's wage payment statute and depends on the employer's regular payday schedule; the Department of Labor summarizes the rule on its wages page (Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Wages, Fringe Benefits, Paychecks & Breaks).
What is the minimum wage in Tennessee?
Tennessee has no state minimum wage law, so employers covered by federal law pay at least the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour (U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division: State Minimum Wage Laws).
Is there a Tennessee withholding form for new hires?
No. New hires in Tennessee complete only the federal Form W-4.
Do Tennessee employees pay state unemployment tax?
No. Tennessee unemployment insurance premiums are paid by the employer only.
General information, not legal advice. Not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. This page is for general information only and isn’t legal, financial or tax advice. Laws vary by state and change; check the official source or talk to a qualified professional about your situation. Report an error