Athletic Trainers in Kentucky

A stethoscope and folded scrubs in a sunlit clinical workspace.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$48,930

after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax

Tax takes

$11,750

19.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$54,086

Kentucky costs less than average

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

$60,680

Kept after tax

$48,930

Worth in national money

$54,086

State rank

32

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays athletic trainers around $60,680 at the midpoint, 32 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
  • Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 197.
  • Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,680 you keep $48,930, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,086 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $61,320, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • For athletic trainers the Kentucky median is $60,680, ranking 32 of 50 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.
  • In Kentucky's occupational distribution, athletic trainers sits at 197 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 athletic trainers on $60,680 is $48,930. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,086 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 $61,320 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Athletic Trainers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$45,500
Half earn under$60,680
Top tenth earn over$82,480
This salary$60,680

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

Compare with
+$2,006take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Kentucky$48,930
Take-home in Texas$50,936
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,668

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

Moving to
$0$62,698
$62,698in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$58,183
Raise you would need+$2,018
Prices in Texas97 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 athletic trainers in Kentucky earn under $60,680 and half over. The published range runs $45,500 at the tenth percentile to $82,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • In Kentucky the take-home figure of $48,930, from $60,680, 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 197 of 491 occupations here.
  • Two cautions on $54,086, the adjusted value of that $60,680 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 197 of 491 locally.
  • Figures are distribution medians for athletic trainers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,500 to $82,480; 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.
  • Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,930 from $60,680. 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 197 of 491 locally.
  • This $54,086 adjusted figure, worked from $60,680, 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 197 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 197 of 491 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,500 at the tenth percentile, $82,480 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 $54,086 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, $48,930 remains.

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.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,500 to $82,480) 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 $54,086 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 $48,930 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.