Database Administrators in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,368
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$20,022
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,466
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
$87,390
Kept after tax
$67,368
Worth in national money
$74,466
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for database administrators. The middle earner takes $87,390, ranking 42 of 51 states — about 16.47% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, database administrators comes in at 69 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $87,390 you keep $67,368 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $74,466 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $92,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky ranks 42 of 51 for database administrators, with a median of $87,390 — about 16.47% 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.
- Database administrators ranks 69 of 491 occupations by median in Kentucky, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $67,368 after the full tax stack, from $87,390. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $74,466 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $92,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Database Administrators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $87,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $139,840 |
| This salary | $87,390 |
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 | $67,368 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,309 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,113 |
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 | $83,209 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,919 |
| 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 database administrators in Kentucky earn under $87,390 and half over. The published range runs $47,150 at the tenth percentile to $139,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $67,368, worked from $87,390. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 69 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $74,466, the adjusted value of that $87,390 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 69 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for database administrators in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,150 to $139,840; 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.
- The Kentucky take-home of $67,368, on $87,390 for work ranking 69 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 69 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $74,466 — the adjusted value of that $87,390 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 69 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $92,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $47,150 at the bottom tenth to $139,840 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $74,466.
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 $67,368.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $92,080. 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 ($47,150) and the ninetieth ($139,840) 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 $74,466 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 $67,368 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.