Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,548
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,622
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,609
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
$47,170
Kept after tax
$38,548
Worth in national money
$42,609
State rank
37
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $47,170, 37 of 50 states and about 2.24% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 317.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,170 the take-home is $38,548; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,609 would nationally. The average comes to $47,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $47,170 median for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders places it 37 of 50 states, about 2.24% 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.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 317 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.
- Post-tax income for coating, painting, and spraying machine setters, operators, and tenders in Kentucky, on $47,170, is $38,548 — equivalent to $42,609 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 $47,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,850 |
| This salary | $47,170 |
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 | $38,548 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,081 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,363 |
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 | $45,262 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,648 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,170 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,450 and the ninetieth is $63,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $38,548, from $47,170, 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 317 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,609 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 317.
- The Kentucky median of $47,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,450 to $63,850. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,548 from $47,170. 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 317 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,609, worked from $47,170, 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 317 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,450 at the bottom tenth to $63,850 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,609 in national terms.
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 $38,548.
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 ($32,450 to $63,850) 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 $42,609 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 $38,548 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.