Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,788
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,682
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,821
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
$34,470
Kept after tax
$28,788
Worth in national money
$31,821
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $34,470, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 3.8% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 446 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,470 the take-home is $28,788; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,821 would nationally. The average comes to $36,050, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 36 of 51 for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, with a median of $34,470 — about 3.8% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipment occupies position 446 of 491 in Kentucky's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for cleaners of vehicles and equipment in Kentucky, on $34,470, is $28,788 — equivalent to $31,821 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 $36,050 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,750 |
| This salary | $34,470 |
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 | $28,788 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,076 |
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 | $33,115 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,301 |
| 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 cleaners of vehicles and equipment in Kentucky earn under $34,470 and half over. The published range runs $27,260 at the tenth percentile to $49,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $28,788 take-home in Kentucky comes from $34,470. 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 446 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,821, the adjusted value of that $34,470 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 446 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cleaners of vehicles and equipment in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,260 to $49,750; 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.
- Retained pay of $28,788, from $34,470, 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 446 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $31,821 — the adjusted value of that $34,470 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 446 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $36,050 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,260 and the top tenth $49,750, 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 $31,821.
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, $28,788 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $36,050. 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 ($27,260 to $49,750) 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 $31,821 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 $28,788 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.