First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,818
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,992
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,959
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
$35,810
Kept after tax
$29,818
Worth in national money
$32,959
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $35,810, 47 of 51 states and about 18.76% 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, this job ranks 433. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,810 the take-home is $29,818; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,959 would nationally. The average comes to $39,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $35,810 median for first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers places it 47 of 51 states, about 18.76% 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, first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers ranks 433 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.
- Post-tax income for first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers in Kentucky, on $35,810, is $29,818 — equivalent to $32,959 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $39,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,980 |
| This salary | $35,810 |
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 | $29,818 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,953 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,106 |
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 | $34,396 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,338 |
| 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 first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers in Kentucky earn under $35,810 and half over. The published range runs $28,190 at the tenth percentile to $58,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $29,818, from $35,810, 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 433 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 $32,959, the adjusted value of that $35,810 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 433 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,190 to $58,980; 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 $29,818 from $35,810. 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 433 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $32,959 — the adjusted value of that $35,810 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 433 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 $39,320, 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 $28,190 and the top tenth $58,980 — 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 $32,959 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $29,818.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $39,320. 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 ($28,190) and the ninetieth ($58,980) 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 $32,959 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 $29,818 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.