Engineers, All Other in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,684
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$24,146
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,658
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
$99,830
Kept after tax
$75,684
Worth in national money
$83,658
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for engineers, all other is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $99,830. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 18.79% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, engineers, all other comes in at 48 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $99,830 you keep $75,684, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $83,658 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $103,210, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For engineers, all other, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $99,830, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 18.79%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Engineers, all other ranks 48 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.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for engineers, all other on $99,830 is $75,684. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $83,658 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 $103,210 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $152,970 |
| This salary | $99,830 |
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 | $75,684 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,060 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,299 |
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 | $95,030 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,176 |
| 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 engineers, all other in Kentucky earn under $99,830 and half over. The published range runs $61,150 at the tenth percentile to $152,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $75,684, from $99,830, 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 48 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 $83,658, the adjusted value of that $99,830 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 48 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for engineers, all other in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,150 to $152,970; 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.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $75,684 from $99,830. 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 48 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $83,658 — the adjusted value of that $99,830 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 48 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 $103,210 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,150, the highest tenth $152,970, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $83,658 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, $75,684 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $103,210. 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 ($61,150) and the ninetieth ($152,970) 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 $83,658 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 $75,684 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.