What Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks earn in Rutherford County, TN
The median pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN is $50,810 per year, which works out to $24.43 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area, the labor market that Rutherford County, TN belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $53,720, which is 5.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 13,790 people working in this occupation across the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Rutherford County, TN has roughly 360,646 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $38,150 a year ($18.34 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $74,090 or more ($35.62 an hour). That is a gap of $35,940 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $45,130 at the 25th percentile and $61,320 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.9 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN is $24.43. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $50,810, and the same salary is $4,234 a month before taxes or about $1,954 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $20.65 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
How pay in Rutherford County, TN compares
Compared with the Tennessee average
Rutherford County, TN pays above the state benchmark. The Tennessee employment-weighted average for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $48,078; the local median of $50,810 beats it by $2,732, or 5.7%. Within Tennessee, Rutherford County, TN already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $51,691 across the contiguous United States. At $50,810, Rutherford County, TN pays $881 less, which is 1.7% below that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Rutherford County, TN
Among the 532 occupations with published wages in Rutherford County, TN, Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks ranks number 324 by median pay, ahead of about 39% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $119,990 a year, which is $69,180 more than the median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $50,810 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $7,856 a year, which leaves $42,954, or $3,580 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $15 goes to taxes and $85 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 15.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $35,060. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $3,969, an effective 7.8% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,150 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $737. FICA totals $3,887, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Tennessee
There is no state income tax on wages in Tennessee, which means Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN keep the full $42,954 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $2,541 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $212 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Rutherford County, TN
IRS Statistics of Income data for Rutherford County, TN show an average adjusted gross income of $76,322 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.8% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.3%, compared with the 7.8% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Rutherford County, TN
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Rutherford County, TN: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $42,954 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Rutherford County, TN is $1,650 a month, or $19,800 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,798 a month. For Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, a one-bedroom absorbs 46.1% of take-home pay and 39.0% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 6.8% of gross pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Tennessee residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,313 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $421, for $1,733 in total. Gasoline in Tennessee averages $3.08 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,426.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $26,395 a year, 61% of take-home pay. That leaves $16,559 a year, or $1,380 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 32.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Can Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks afford to live in Rutherford County, TN?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $50,810 that ceiling is $1,270 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,650 is $380 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $31.73 an hour; the median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $24.43, which is 23% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $20.65 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.4 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,798 a month means $899 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $9,012 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $25,571.
How fast you can save
At $1,380 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks pay in Rutherford County, TN
What is the hourly wage for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN?
The median is $24.43 per hour, based on $50,810 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.34 at the 10th percentile to $35.62 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $50,810 becomes $42,954 a year. That is $3,580 a month, $1,652 every two weeks or $826 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN?
Total taxes are $7,856 a year, an effective rate of 15.5%: $3,969 federal income tax, $3,887 FICA and no Tennessee income tax.
Is pay for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN above the Tennessee average?
Yes. The local median of $50,810 is +5.7% versus the Tennessee average of $48,078, a difference of $2,732 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks salary in Rutherford County, TN?
A one-bedroom costs $1,650 a month against take-home pay of $3,580, which is 46.1% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,270 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Rutherford County, TN?
About $1,380 a month ($16,559 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,395 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Rutherford County, TN at the 30% guideline?
$31.73 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $19,800 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is $24.43.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Tennessee rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.