Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,276
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$11,854
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,468
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
$61,130
Kept after tax
$49,276
Worth in national money
$54,468
State rank
37
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $61,130. That is 37 of 49 states, and about 7.76% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 186.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,130 you keep $49,276 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,468 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,870, since top earners drag the number up.
- For career/technical education teachers, secondary school, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $61,130, ranking 37 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 7.76%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, career/technical education teachers, secondary school sits at 186 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $49,276 after the full tax stack, from $61,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,468 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,870 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,320 |
| This salary | $61,130 |
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 | $49,276 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,298 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,679 |
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 | $58,614 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,030 |
| 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 career/technical education teachers, secondary school in Kentucky earn under $61,130 and half over. The published range runs $48,760 at the tenth percentile to $83,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $49,276, from $61,130, 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 186 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 $54,468, the adjusted value of that $61,130 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 186 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for career/technical education teachers, secondary school in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,760 to $83,320; 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 $49,276 from $61,130. 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 186 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $54,468 — the adjusted value of that $61,130 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 186 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 $63,870, 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 $48,760 and the top tenth $83,320, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,468 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, $49,276 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $63,870. 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 ($48,760 to $83,320) 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 $54,468 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 $49,276 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.