Cooks, Short Order in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,767
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,073
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,587
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
$31,840
Kept after tax
$26,767
Worth in national money
$29,587
State rank
32
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 32 of 49 states for cooks, short order, with a middle wage of $31,840. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, short order ranks 459. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $31,840 you keep $26,767 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $29,587 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,160, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky ranks 32 of 49 for cooks, short order at $31,840. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, cooks, short order ranks 459 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $26,767 after the full tax stack, from $31,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,587 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,160 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,880 |
| This salary | $31,840 |
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 | $26,767 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,763 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,016 |
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 | $30,599 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,229 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $31,840 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,860 and the ninetieth is $44,880 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $26,767, from $31,840, 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 459 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 $29,587, the adjusted value of that $31,840 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 459 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $31,840 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,860 to $44,880. 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 $26,767 from $31,840. 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 459 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $29,587 — the adjusted value of that $31,840 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 459 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 $33,160, 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 $22,860 and the top tenth $44,880, 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 $29,587.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Kentucky adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,767 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $33,160. 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 ($22,860 to $44,880) 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 $29,587 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 $26,767 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.