Architects, Except Landscape and Naval in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,247
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$23,433
24.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,070
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
$97,680
Kept after tax
$74,247
Worth in national money
$82,070
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays this job around $97,680 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 54 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $97,680 you keep $74,247, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $82,070 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $97,670, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For architects, except landscape and naval the Kentucky median is $97,680, ranking 25 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, architects, except landscape and naval sits 54 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for architects, except landscape and naval on $97,680 is $74,247. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $82,070 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $97,670 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $130,490 |
| This salary | $97,680 |
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 | $74,247 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,548 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,267 |
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 | $92,987 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,132 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of architects, except landscape and naval in Kentucky earn under $97,680 and half over. The published range runs $60,980 at the tenth percentile to $130,490 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $74,247 take-home in Kentucky comes from $97,680. 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 54 of 491.
- Two cautions on $82,070, the adjusted value of that $97,680 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 54 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for architects, except landscape and naval in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,980 to $130,490; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $74,247, from $97,680, 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 54 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- This $82,070 adjusted figure, worked from $97,680, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 54 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 54 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $60,980 at the tenth percentile, $130,490 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kentucky is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $82,070 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Kentucky's own levy, $74,247 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($60,980 to $130,490) 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 $82,070 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 $74,247 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.