Tennessee Income Tax

No. Tennessee does not tax personal income, so wages and salaries aren't subject to any state income tax and there's no state return to file on your earnings. Tennessee has no tax on wages; its Hall tax on investment income was repealed in 2021. There are 9 states in this position, so if you're comparing places to live, Alaska, Florida, Nevada are in the same category.

There is no rate — Tennessee levies no personal income tax for 2026, at any income level or filing status. That's different from a 0% bracket: there is no state income tax structure at all, so filing status, brackets, and state deductions simply don't apply to your wages.

States without an income tax lean on other taxes instead — most commonly sales tax, property tax, and industry-specific taxes. That means your total state and local tax burden depends far more on what you spend and what property you own than on what you earn, and it can still be substantial. Comparing states purely on income tax misses that trade-off.

Yes. Federal income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) apply in every state regardless of state income tax. For most people federal tax is the larger line by some distance, so having no state income tax reduces your total bill but doesn't come close to eliminating it. Use the income tax calculator to estimate the federal side.

Generally your home state taxes your income wherever you earned it, so living in a state that does tax income while working in Tennessee usually means you still owe your home state's tax. The reverse — living in Tennessee and working elsewhere — can mean owing tax to that other state as a non-resident. Multi-state situations turn on residency rules and any reciprocity agreement between the two states, so they're worth checking with each state's revenue department.