Brickmasons and Blockmasons in Kentucky

A hard hat, safety glasses and tool belt beside timber house framing.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$48,269

after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax

Tax takes

$11,551

19.3% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$53,355

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

$59,820

Kept after tax

$48,269

Worth in national money

$53,355

State rank

31

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays brickmasons and blockmasons around $59,820 at the midpoint, 31 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
  • Ordinary, locally speaking. Brickmasons and blockmasons ranks 212 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,820 you keep $48,269 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,355 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $58,140.
  • For brickmasons and blockmasons the Kentucky median is $59,820, ranking 31 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.
  • Position 212 of 491 in Kentucky places brickmasons and blockmasons in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
  • Retained pay in Kentucky is $48,269 after the full tax stack, from $59,820. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,355 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,140 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.

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Pay band: Brickmasons and Blockmasons

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$36,650
Half earn under$59,820
Top tenth earn over$77,920
This salary$59,820

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
+$1,976take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Kentucky$48,269
Take-home in Texas$50,245
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,649

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$61,814
$61,814in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$57,361
Raise you would need+$1,994
Prices in Texas97 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 $59,820. The published range is $36,650 up to $77,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • In Kentucky the take-home figure of $48,269, from $59,820, 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 212 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 $53,355, the adjusted value of that $59,820 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 212 of 491 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for brickmasons and blockmasons in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,650 to $77,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,269 from $59,820. 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 212 of 491 locally.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $53,355 — the adjusted value of that $59,820 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 212 of 491 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,650 and the top tenth $77,920, 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 $53,355.

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, $48,269 remains.

Why is this job missing from some states?

A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.

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

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,650 to $77,920) 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 $53,355 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 $48,269 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.