Fast Food and Counter Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,120
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$4,010
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,556
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
$27,130
Kept after tax
$23,120
Worth in national money
$25,556
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays fast food and counter workers a middle wage of $27,130, 44 of 51 states and about 13.04% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, fast food and counter workers ranks 485. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $27,130 you keep $23,120 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $25,556 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $26,890.
- Kentucky's $27,130 median for fast food and counter workers places it 44 of 51 states, about 13.04% 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.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, fast food and counter workers ranks 485 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $23,120 after the full tax stack, from $27,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $25,556 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $26,890 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $34,420 |
| This salary | $27,130 |
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 | $23,120 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $23,952 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$908 |
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 | $26,120 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,071 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,130 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $21,590 and the ninetieth is $34,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $23,120 take-home in Kentucky comes from $27,130. 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 485 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $25,556 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 485.
- The Kentucky median of $27,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $21,590 to $34,420. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $23,120, from $27,130, 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 485 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $25,556, worked from $27,130, 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 485 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $21,590 at the tenth percentile, $34,420 at the ninetieth.
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 $25,556.
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 $23,120 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($21,590 to $34,420) 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 $25,556 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 $23,120 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.