Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,820
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,620
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,280
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
$64,440
Kept after tax
$51,820
Worth in national money
$57,280
State rank
38
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $64,440, ranking 38 of 49 states — about 18.04% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 158.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,440 you keep $51,820, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $57,280 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $68,910, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 38 of 49 for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $64,440 — about 18.04% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary sits at 158 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.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary on $64,440 is $51,820. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $57,280 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 $68,910 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,850 |
| This salary | $64,440 |
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 | $51,820 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,958 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,753 |
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 | $61,779 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,129 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,440 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,470 and the ninetieth is $104,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $51,820, from $64,440, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 158 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $57,280, the adjusted value of that $64,440 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 158 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $64,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,470 to $104,850. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,820 from $64,440. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 158 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $57,280 — the adjusted value of that $64,440 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 158 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 $68,910, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $35,470 at the bottom tenth to $104,850 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $57,280.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $51,820.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $68,910. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($35,470) and the ninetieth ($104,850) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $57,280 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 $51,820 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.