Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,734
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,896
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,291
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
$65,630
Kept after tax
$52,734
Worth in national money
$58,291
State rank
40
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $65,630, 40 of 45 states and about 17.29% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 148.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $65,630 the take-home is $52,734; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,291 would nationally. The average comes to $72,830, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $65,630 median for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary places it 40 of 45 states, about 17.29% 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.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary sits at 148 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Kentucky, on $65,630, is $52,734 — equivalent to $58,291 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 $72,830 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,600 |
| This salary | $65,630 |
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 | $52,734 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,914 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,780 |
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 | $62,918 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,336 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $65,630 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,920 and the ninetieth is $106,600 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $52,734, from $65,630, 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 148 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 $58,291, the adjusted value of that $65,630 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 148 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $65,630 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,920 to $106,600. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $52,734 from $65,630. 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 148 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $58,291 — the adjusted value of that $65,630 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 148 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 $72,830 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 $43,920 at the bottom tenth to $106,600 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $58,291 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 $52,734.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $72,830. 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 ($43,920) and the ninetieth ($106,600) 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 $58,291 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 $52,734 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.