Healthcare Social Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,543
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,537
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,974
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
$64,080
Kept after tax
$51,543
Worth in national money
$56,974
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 29 of 51 states for healthcare social workers, with a middle wage of $64,080. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 163.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,080 the take-home is $51,543; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,974 would nationally. The average comes to $64,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 29 of 51 for healthcare social workers at $64,080. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, healthcare social workers sits at 163 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 healthcare social workers in Kentucky, on $64,080, is $51,543 — equivalent to $56,974 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 $64,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Healthcare Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,240 |
| This salary | $64,080 |
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 | $51,543 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,745 |
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 | $61,435 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,111 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,080 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,010 and the ninetieth is $86,240 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $51,543 take-home in Kentucky comes from $64,080. 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 163 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,974, the adjusted value of that $64,080 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 163 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $64,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,010 to $86,240. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $51,543, from $64,080, 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 163 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $56,974 — the adjusted value of that $64,080 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 163 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,010 and the top tenth $86,240, 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 $56,974.
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 $51,543 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,010 to $86,240) 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 $56,974 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 $51,543 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.