Education Teachers, Postsecondary in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,522
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$11,928
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,740
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
$61,450
Kept after tax
$49,522
Worth in national money
$54,740
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,450, ranking 46 of 49 states — about 18.45% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 181 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,450 you keep $49,522, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,740 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $67,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 46 of 49 for education teachers, postsecondary, with a median of $61,450 — about 18.45% 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.
- Position 181 of 491 in Kentucky places education teachers, postsecondary in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for education teachers, postsecondary on $61,450 is $49,522. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,740 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $67,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Education Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,060 |
| This salary | $61,450 |
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 | $49,522 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,555 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,686 |
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 | $58,920 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,039 |
| 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 education teachers, postsecondary in Kentucky earn under $61,450 and half over. The published range runs $37,170 at the tenth percentile to $104,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $49,522 take-home in Kentucky comes from $61,450. 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 181 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,740 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 181.
- Figures are distribution medians for education teachers, postsecondary in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,170 to $104,060; 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.
- Retained pay of $49,522, from $61,450, 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 181 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,740, worked from $61,450, 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 181 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 $67,150, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,170 and the top tenth $104,060 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $54,740 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $49,522 remains.
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 49 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 $67,150. 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 ($37,170) and the ninetieth ($104,060) 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 $54,740 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 $49,522 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.