Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,732
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,268
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,970
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
$37,000
Kept after tax
$30,732
Worth in national money
$33,970
State rank
39
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 $37,000, 39 of 50 states and about 6.64% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 417. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,000 the take-home is $30,732; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,970 would nationally. The average comes to $38,880, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $37,000 median for helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers places it 39 of 50 states, about 6.64% 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.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers ranks 417 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers in Kentucky, on $37,000, is $30,732 — equivalent to $33,970 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 $38,880 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,480 |
| This salary | $37,000 |
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 | $30,732 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,910 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,133 |
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 | $35,535 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,370 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,000 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,140 and the ninetieth is $51,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $30,732, worked from $37,000. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 417 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,970, the adjusted value of that $37,000 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 417 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $37,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,140 to $51,480. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Kentucky take-home of $30,732, on $37,000 for work ranking 417 of 491 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 417 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $33,970 — the adjusted value of that $37,000 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 417 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 $38,880, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,140 at the tenth percentile, $51,480 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,970.
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 $30,732.
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.
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 $38,880. 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 ($29,140 to $51,480) 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 $33,970 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 $30,732 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.