Food Batchmakers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,340
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,560
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,380
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
$46,900
Kept after tax
$38,340
Worth in national money
$42,380
State rank
6
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food batchmakers is strong here. Kentucky's middle earner gets $46,900, putting the state 6 of 50 — about 10.9% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Kentucky, this sits in the middle: 322 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,900 you keep $38,340, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,380 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $46,740, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For food batchmakers, Kentucky sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,900, ranking 6 of 50 and running about 10.9% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Food batchmakers ranks 322 of 491 occupations in Kentucky by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for food batchmakers on $46,900 is $38,340. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,380 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 $46,740 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,340 |
| This salary | $46,900 |
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 | $38,340 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,864 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,357 |
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 | $45,003 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,641 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $46,900. The published range is $31,690 up to $61,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $38,340, worked from $46,900. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 322 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,380, the adjusted value of that $46,900 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 322 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for food batchmakers in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,690 to $61,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kentucky take-home of $38,340, on $46,900 for work ranking 322 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 322 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $42,380 — the adjusted value of that $46,900 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 322 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,690 at the bottom tenth to $61,340 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 $42,380.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Kentucky's own levy, $38,340 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,690 to $61,340) 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 $42,380 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 $38,340 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.