Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,763
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$16,747
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,165
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
$77,510
Kept after tax
$60,763
Worth in national money
$67,165
State rank
41
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $77,510, 41 of 50 states and about 23.95% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 98 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $77,510 the take-home is $60,763; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $67,165 would nationally. The average comes to $79,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $77,510 median for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers places it 41 of 50 states, about 23.95% 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.
- Within Kentucky, geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 98 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Kentucky, on $77,510, is $60,763 — equivalent to $67,165 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 $79,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,920 |
| This salary | $77,510 |
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 | $60,763 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,358 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,965 |
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 | $73,821 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,714 |
| 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 $77,510. The published range is $44,130 up to $115,920, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $60,763 take-home in Kentucky comes from $77,510. 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 98 of 491.
- Two cautions on $67,165, the adjusted value of that $77,510 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 98 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,130 to $115,920. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $60,763, from $77,510, 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 98 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 50 for it.
- This $67,165 adjusted figure, worked from $77,510, 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 98 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 98 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $44,130, the highest tenth $115,920, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,165 in national terms.
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 $60,763 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($44,130) and the ninetieth ($115,920) 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 $67,165 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 $60,763 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.