First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,407
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$15,083
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,456
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
$72,490
Kept after tax
$57,407
Worth in national money
$63,456
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 33 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $72,490. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 120 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $72,490 you keep $57,407, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $63,456 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $74,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 33 of 51 for first-line supervisors of production and operating workers at $72,490. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, first-line supervisors of production and operating workers sits 120 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for first-line supervisors of production and operating workers on $72,490 is $57,407. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $63,456 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 $74,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,810 |
| This salary | $72,490 |
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 | $57,407 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,827 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,890 |
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 | $69,051 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,610 |
| 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 production and operating workers in Kentucky earn under $72,490 and half over. The published range runs $45,560 at the tenth percentile to $104,810 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,407 take-home in Kentucky comes from $72,490. 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 120 of 491.
- Two cautions on $63,456, the adjusted value of that $72,490 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 120 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of production and operating workers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,560 to $104,810; 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.
- Retained pay of $57,407, from $72,490, 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 120 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- This $63,456 adjusted figure, worked from $72,490, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 120 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 120 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 $74,710, 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 $45,560 and the top tenth $104,810 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Kentucky is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $63,456 in national terms.
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 $57,407.
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 $74,710. 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 ($45,560) and the ninetieth ($104,810) 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 $63,456 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 $57,407 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.