Data Scientists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,289
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$21,471
23.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,695
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
$91,760
Kept after tax
$70,289
Worth in national money
$77,695
State rank
40
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for data scientists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $91,760. That is 40 of 49 states, and about 23.68% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, data scientists ranks 65 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $91,760 you keep $70,289 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $77,695 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $100,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- For data scientists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $91,760, ranking 40 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 23.68%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, data scientists sits 65 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $70,289 after the full tax stack, from $91,760. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $77,695 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $100,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,480 |
| This salary | $91,760 |
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 | $70,289 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,383 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,179 |
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 | $87,362 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,009 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $91,760 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,990 and the ninetieth is $156,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $70,289, from $91,760, 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 65 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 $77,695 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 65.
- The Kentucky median of $91,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,990 to $156,480. 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 $70,289 from $91,760. 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 65 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $77,695, worked from $91,760, 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 65 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 $100,840 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,990 and the top tenth $156,480 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $77,695.
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, $70,289 remains.
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 $100,840. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,990) and the ninetieth ($156,480) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $77,695 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 $70,289 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.