Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,043
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,157
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,893
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
$32,200
Kept after tax
$27,043
Worth in national money
$29,893
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays food servers, nonrestaurant around $32,200 at the midpoint, 30 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 491 occupations Kentucky publishes, food servers, nonrestaurant lands at 458. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $32,200 you keep $27,043 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $29,893 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $32,750, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food servers, nonrestaurant the Kentucky median is $32,200, ranking 30 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Kentucky, this work ranks 458 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $27,043 after the full tax stack, from $32,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,893 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $32,750 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,060 |
| This salary | $32,200 |
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 | $27,043 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,053 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,024 |
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 | $30,944 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,239 |
| 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 food servers, nonrestaurant in Kentucky earn under $32,200 and half over. The published range runs $25,790 at the tenth percentile to $42,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $27,043, from $32,200, 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 458 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 $29,893, the adjusted value of that $32,200 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 458 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $25,790 to $42,060; 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 $27,043 from $32,200. 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 458 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $29,893 — the adjusted value of that $32,200 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 458 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $25,790 and the top tenth $42,060, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $29,893.
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 $27,043.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($25,790 to $42,060) 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 $29,893 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 $27,043 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.