Naturally occurring terbium (₆₅Tb) is composed of one stable isotope, ¹⁵⁹Tb. Thirty-seven radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being ¹⁵⁸Tb with a half-life of 180 years, ¹⁵⁷Tb with a half-life of 71 years, and ¹⁶⁰Tb with a half-life of 72.3 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 6.907 days, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 24 seconds. This element also has 27 meta states, with the most stable being ^156m1Tb (t_1/2 = 24.4 hours), ^154m2Tb (t_1/2 = 22.7 hours) and ^154m1Tb (t_1/2 = 9.4 hours).

The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, ¹⁵⁹Tb, is electron capture, and the primary mode behind is beta decay. The primary decay products before ¹⁵⁹Tb are element Gd (gadolinium) isotopes, and the primary products after ¹⁵⁹Tb are element Dy (dysprosium) isotopes.