Tennessee Hourly Paycheck Calculator
Your hourly rate and hours in, your take-home pay out. Overtime is paid at 1.5× your rate; tips you report are taxed like wages.
| Per paycheck | Amount | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $1,600.00 | $41,600.00 |
| Federal income tax · withheld | −$108.15 | −$2,812.00 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$99.20 | −$2,579.20 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$23.20 | −$603.20 |
| Tennessee income tax · Tennessee has none | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Take-home pay | $1,369.45 | $35,605.60 |
How the federal income tax was worked out
| Pay subject to income tax, for the year · $1,600.00 × 26 paychecks | $41,600.00 |
| Minus the IRS withholding allowance · Pub 15-T Worksheet 1A, line 1g | −$8,600.00 |
| Adjusted yearly wage | $33,000.00 |
| Tax from the IRS yearly table · standard table | $2,812.00 |
| Federal income tax per paycheck · divided by 26 | $108.15 |
IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A — the percentage method payroll software uses for a Form W-4 from 2020 or later. Your employer's figure can differ by a few cents because of rounding.
Hourly pay in Tennessee
Tennessee has no minimum wage law of its own, so the federal minimum applies: $7.25 an hour. Tipped employees — those who get more than $30 a month in tips — can be paid a cash wage of $2.13 as long as tips bring them up to $7.25; if they don't, the employer makes up the difference.
Overtime. Federal rules apply: time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. A long single shift is not overtime on its own.
Breaks. Scheduled for 6 hours straight? You're owed a 30-minute unpaid break in most jobs. Unpaid break time doesn't count toward your hours or overtime.
Tips. Tips you report to your employer are wages: Social Security, Medicare and federal income tax apply to them. Tennessee adds nothing on top.
Because hours change from week to week, your withholding changes too: a week with lots of overtime is withheld as if you earned that much every week, so more comes out. It usually evens out when you file your return.
What comes out of a Tennessee paycheck
- Federal income tax withholding — worked out from your pay and your Form W-4, using the IRS tables for 2026.
- Social Security — 6.2% of your pay, up to $184,500 of pay in 2026. Above that, it stops for the rest of the year.
- Medicare — 1.45% of all your pay, plus 0.9% on pay above $200,000 in the year.
Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income, so employers have no Tennessee tax to withhold. A Tennessee paycheck has only the federal deductions above taken out, plus whatever you chose, such as a 401(k), health insurance or union dues.
Tips and overtime in 2026
New federal deductions apply for 2025 through 2028: up to $25,000 for qualified tips, and up to $12,500 ($25,000 for joint filers) for the extra "half" of time-and-a-half overtime. Both phase out above $150,000 of income ($300,000 joint).
These are deductions on your tax return. Your employer still takes Social Security and Medicare out of tips and overtime, and still withholds income tax unless you tell it otherwise. If you expect to claim them, you can put the expected amount in Step 4(b) of your W-4 (and in the Step 4(b) box above) so less income tax is withheld during the year.
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Sources
- IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods — Worksheet 1A and the annual percentage-method tables
- IRS Publication 15 (2026), Employer's Tax Guide — Social Security and Medicare rates
- Social Security Administration — 2026 wage base of $184,500
- IRS — tips and overtime deductions
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — GEN-34 Income Tax Withholding — no state income tax on earned income and no withholding requirements
- Tennessee Department of Revenue — Hall income tax repealed — fully repealed beginning January 1, 2021
- Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development — Wages and breaks — paydays, final pay and meal breaks (Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-2-103)
- U.S. Department of Labor — State minimum wage laws
- U.S. Department of Labor — Minimum wages for tipped employees — table updated July 1, 2026
- U.S. Department of Labor — Overtime pay — time and one-half after 40 hours in a workweek
Questions
Does Tennessee take state tax out of my paycheck?
No. Tennessee has no state income tax on earned income, so there is nothing for your employer to withhold for the state. Only federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare are taken out, plus any benefits you signed up for.
How much is taken out of a $1,000 paycheck in Tennessee?
For a single filer paid every two weeks with nothing else on the W-4, a $1,000 paycheck has about $38.08 of federal income tax, $62.00 of Social Security and $14.50 of Medicare taken out, leaving $885.42. Enter your own details in the calculator for your exact figure.
What is $20 an hour after taxes in Tennessee?
Working 40 hours a week and paid every two weeks, $20 an hour is $1,600.00 before tax and about $1,369.45 after tax per paycheck — $35,605.60 a year — for a single filer with a standard W-4.
When do I get my last paycheck in Tennessee?
By the next regular payday or 21 days after you leave, whichever is later — the same rule whether you quit or were let go.
What is the minimum wage in Tennessee?
$7.25 an hour, the federal minimum wage, because Tennessee has no minimum wage law of its own. Tipped employees can be paid $2.13 an hour in cash as long as tips bring them up to $7.25.
Does Tennessee tax interest or dividends?
Not any more. The Hall income tax on interest and dividends was fully repealed starting January 1, 2021.