Dentists, General in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,386
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$35,774
26.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$108,753
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
$134,160
Kept after tax
$98,386
Worth in national money
$108,753
State rank
44
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays dentists, general a middle wage of $134,160, 44 of 47 states and about 21.52% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, dentists, general ranks 9 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $134,160 you keep $98,386 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $108,753 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $157,630, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky's $134,160 median for dentists, general places it 44 of 47 states, about 21.52% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, dentists, general sits 9 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 $98,386 after the full tax stack, from $134,160. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $108,753 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $157,630 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Dentists, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $344,040 |
| This salary | $134,160 |
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 | $98,386 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,964 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,795 |
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 | $127,462 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,974 |
| 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 dentists, general in Kentucky earn under $134,160 and half over. The published range runs $44,820 at the tenth percentile to $344,040 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 $98,386, worked from $134,160. 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 9 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $108,753, the adjusted value of that $134,160 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 9 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dentists, general in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,820 to $344,040; 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 $98,386, on $134,160 for work ranking 9 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 9 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $108,753 — the adjusted value of that $134,160 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 9 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 $157,630 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 $44,820 and the top tenth $344,040 — 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 $108,753.
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 $98,386 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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $157,630. 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 ($44,820) and the ninetieth ($344,040) 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 $108,753 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 $98,386 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.