First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,363
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$15,557
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,512
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
$73,920
Kept after tax
$58,363
Worth in national money
$64,512
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $73,920, ranking 30 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, this job comes in at 114 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $73,920 you keep $58,363, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $64,512 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $67,840, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other: a median of $73,920, ranking 30 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- First-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other ranks 114 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 first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other on $73,920 is $58,363. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $64,512 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 $67,840 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,970 |
| This salary | $73,920 |
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 | $58,363 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,833 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,911 |
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 | $70,410 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,640 |
| 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 protective service workers, all other in Kentucky earn under $73,920 and half over. The published range runs $36,030 at the tenth percentile to $94,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $58,363 take-home in Kentucky comes from $73,920. 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 114 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,512, the adjusted value of that $73,920 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 114 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,030 to $94,970; 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.
- Retained pay of $58,363, from $73,920, 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 114 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $64,512 — the adjusted value of that $73,920 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 114 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 $67,840 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,030 at the bottom tenth to $94,970 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $64,512.
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 $58,363 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $67,840. 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 ($36,030) and the ninetieth ($94,970) 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 $64,512 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 $58,363 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.