Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,017
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,763
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,127
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
$47,780
Kept after tax
$39,017
Worth in national money
$43,127
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $47,780, 45 of 49 states and about 16.8% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 309 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,780 you keep $39,017, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,127 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky's $47,780 median for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining places it 45 of 49 states, about 16.8% 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.
- Position 309 of 491 in Kentucky places excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining 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 excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining on $47,780 is $39,017. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,127 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 $52,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,390 |
| This salary | $47,780 |
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 | $39,017 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,571 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,377 |
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 | $45,845 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,665 |
| 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 excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Kentucky earn under $47,780 and half over. The published range runs $37,210 at the tenth percentile to $68,390 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $39,017, from $47,780, 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 309 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,127 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 309.
- Figures are distribution medians for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,210 to $68,390; 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 $39,017 from $47,780. 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 309 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,127, worked from $47,780, 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 309 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 $52,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,210 at the bottom tenth to $68,390 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $43,127.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $39,017.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $52,300. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,210 to $68,390) 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 $43,127 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 $39,017 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.