Electrical Engineers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,828
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$23,722
24.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,712
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
$98,550
Kept after tax
$74,828
Worth in national money
$82,712
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for electrical engineers. The middle earner takes $98,550, ranking 46 of 49 states — about 18.3% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 52 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $98,550 you keep $74,828 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $82,712 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $99,530, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky ranks 46 of 49 for electrical engineers, with a median of $98,550 — about 18.3% 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.
- Within Kentucky, electrical engineers ranks 52 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $74,828 after the full tax stack, from $98,550. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $82,712 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $99,530 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Electrical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $138,460 |
| This salary | $98,550 |
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 | $74,828 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,160 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,280 |
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 | $93,814 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,150 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,550 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,270 and the ninetieth is $138,460 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $74,828, from $98,550, 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 52 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,712, the adjusted value of that $98,550 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 52 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $98,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,270 to $138,460. 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 $74,828 from $98,550. 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 52 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $82,712 — the adjusted value of that $98,550 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 52 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,270, the highest tenth $138,460, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $82,712.
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 $74,828 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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($63,270) and the ninetieth ($138,460) 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 $82,712 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 $74,828 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.