Technical Writers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $80K, rent takes 22.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,215/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new technical writers typically earn — is $50K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,026/month. At HUD’s $1,215/month FMR, rent would take 40% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Local pay runs 12% below the national median — $80K here vs. $90K nationally. Cost of living is 10% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Tennessee pays $80K median vs. the U.S. average of $90K — that’s -12%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.78), the purchasing-power equivalent is $89K — below the national median.

The median is $79,550 a year, that works out to about $38 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $50,430, and experienced technical writers can clear $108,890. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,363/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,215/month, which eats 22.7% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Tennessee has a Regional Price Parity of 89.78 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median technical writers salary is worth about $88,605 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.