Interpreters and Translators in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,482
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$10,108
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,063
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
$53,590
Kept after tax
$43,482
Worth in national money
$48,063
State rank
27
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays interpreters and translators around $53,590 at the midpoint, 27 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Interpreters and translators ranks 254 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,590 you keep $43,482, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $48,063 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $58,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For interpreters and translators the Kentucky median is $53,590, ranking 27 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 254 of 491 in Kentucky places interpreters and translators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for interpreters and translators on $53,590 is $43,482. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $48,063 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $58,930 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,800 |
| This salary | $53,590 |
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 | $43,482 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,240 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,508 |
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 | $51,402 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,824 |
| 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 $53,590. The published range is $35,160 up to $81,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $43,482, from $53,590, 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 254 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,063 uses one figure for the whole of Kentucky. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 254.
- Reported values are medians; for interpreters and translators in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,160 to $81,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,482 from $53,590. 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 254 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,063, worked from $53,590, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Kentucky address, on work sitting at 254 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 $58,930, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $35,160 and the top tenth $81,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $48,063.
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 $43,482.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $58,930. 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 ($35,160) and the ninetieth ($81,800) 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 $48,063 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 $43,482 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.