Dental Hygienists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,645
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$17,185
21.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,141
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
$78,830
Kept after tax
$61,645
Worth in national money
$68,141
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental hygienists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $78,830. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 19.64% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 95 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,830 the take-home is $61,645; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,141 would nationally. The average comes to $78,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dental hygienists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $78,830, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 19.64%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, dental hygienists ranks 95 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for dental hygienists in Kentucky, on $78,830, is $61,645 — equivalent to $68,141 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 $78,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Hygienists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,770 |
| This salary | $78,830 |
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 | $61,645 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,287 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,985 |
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 | $75,075 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,742 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $78,830. The published range is $61,280 up to $98,770, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $61,645 take-home in Kentucky comes from $78,830. 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 95 of 491.
- Two cautions on $68,141, the adjusted value of that $78,830 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 95 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for dental hygienists in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,280 to $98,770. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $61,645, from $78,830, 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 95 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 50 for it.
- This $68,141 adjusted figure, worked from $78,830, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 95 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 95 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $61,280 at the tenth percentile, $98,770 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kentucky sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $68,141 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $61,645 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($61,280 to $98,770) 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 $68,141 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 $61,645 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.