Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,909
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,731
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,009
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
$47,640
Kept after tax
$38,909
Worth in national money
$43,009
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,640, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Kentucky, this sits in the middle: 312 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,640 you keep $38,909 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,009 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for hazardous materials removal workers: a median of $47,640, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Hazardous materials removal workers ranks 312 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $38,909 after the full tax stack, from $47,640. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,009 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,140 |
| This salary | $47,640 |
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 | $38,909 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,459 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,374 |
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 | $45,711 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,661 |
| 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 hazardous materials removal workers in Kentucky earn under $47,640 and half over. The published range runs $40,160 at the tenth percentile to $63,140 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $38,909, from $47,640, 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 312 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 $43,009, the adjusted value of that $47,640 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 312 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for hazardous materials removal workers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,160 to $63,140; 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 $38,909 from $47,640. 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 312 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $43,009 — the adjusted value of that $47,640 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 312 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $51,980, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,160 at the bottom tenth to $63,140 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $43,009 in national terms.
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, $38,909 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $51,980. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,160 to $63,140) 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 $43,009 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 $38,909 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.