Budget Analysts in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,329
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$16,531
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,685
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
$76,860
Kept after tax
$60,329
Worth in national money
$66,685
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays budget analysts a middle wage of $76,860, 50 of 51 states and about 16.13% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, budget analysts ranks 102 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,860 the take-home is $60,329; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,685 would nationally. The average comes to $81,510, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $76,860 median for budget analysts places it 50 of 51 states, about 16.13% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, budget analysts sits 102 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.
- Post-tax income for budget analysts in Kentucky, on $76,860, is $60,329 — equivalent to $66,685 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $81,510 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Budget Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $112,400 |
| This salary | $76,860 |
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 | $60,329 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,901 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,955 |
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 | $73,203 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,701 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,860 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $59,960 and the ninetieth is $112,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $60,329 take-home in Kentucky comes from $76,860. 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 102 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,685 uses one figure for the whole of Kentucky. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 102.
- The Kentucky median of $76,860 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $59,960 to $112,400. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $60,329, from $76,860, 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 102 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,685, worked from $76,860, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Kentucky address, on work sitting at 102 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 $81,510, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $59,960 and the top tenth $112,400, 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 $66,685.
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 $60,329.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $81,510. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($59,960 to $112,400) 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 $66,685 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 $60,329 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.