Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,872
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,118
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,757
Kentucky costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Kentucky — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$44,990
Kept after tax
$36,872
Worth in national money
$40,757
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $44,990. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 26.89% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 349.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,990 the take-home is $36,872; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,757 would nationally. The average comes to $46,710, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $44,990, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 26.89%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors sits at 349 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors in Kentucky, on $44,990, is $36,872 — equivalent to $40,757 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $46,710 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,360 |
| This salary | $44,990 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Kentucky | $36,872 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,329 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,314 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $43,177 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,589 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $44,990. The published range is $38,790 up to $61,360, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,872 take-home in Kentucky comes from $44,990. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 349 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,757, the adjusted value of that $44,990 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 349 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,790 to $61,360. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,872, from $44,990, assumes a single Kentucky filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 349 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $40,757 — the adjusted value of that $44,990 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 349 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $46,710, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,790 and the top tenth $61,360, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $40,757.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Kentucky adds its own income tax on top — which is why $36,872 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Kentucky is $46,710. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,790 to $61,360) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Kentucky rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Kentucky's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $40,757 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $36,872 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Kentucky income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.