Atmospheric and Space Scientists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,964
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$25,276
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,178
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
$103,240
Kept after tax
$77,964
Worth in national money
$86,178
State rank
22
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays atmospheric and space scientists around $103,240 at the midpoint, 22 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, atmospheric and space scientists comes in at 37 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $103,240 you keep $77,964, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $86,178 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $106,230, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For atmospheric and space scientists the Kentucky median is $103,240, ranking 22 of 47 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.
- Atmospheric and space scientists ranks 37 of 491 occupations by median in Kentucky, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for atmospheric and space scientists on $103,240 is $77,964. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $86,178 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 $106,230 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,960 |
| This salary | $103,240 |
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 | $77,964 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,459 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,351 |
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 | $98,271 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,247 |
| 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 atmospheric and space scientists in Kentucky earn under $103,240 and half over. The published range runs $54,540 at the tenth percentile to $166,960 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $77,964, from $103,240, 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 37 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $86,178, the adjusted value of that $103,240 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 37 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for atmospheric and space scientists in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $54,540 to $166,960; 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 $77,964 from $103,240. 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 37 of 491 locally.
- This $86,178 adjusted figure, worked from $103,240, 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 37 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 37 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $54,540 at the bottom tenth to $166,960 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $86,178 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, $77,964 remains.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($54,540) and the ninetieth ($166,960) 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 $86,178 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 $77,964 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.