Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,136
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,184
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,995
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
$32,320
Kept after tax
$27,136
Worth in national money
$29,995
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $32,320. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 12.27% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 491 occupations Kentucky publishes, this job lands at 457. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $32,320 you keep $27,136, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,995 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,750, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $32,320, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.27%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, this work ranks 457 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners on $32,320 is $27,136. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,995 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 $34,750 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,110 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,730 |
| This salary | $32,320 |
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 | $27,136 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,149 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,027 |
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 | $31,059 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,242 |
| 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 janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners in Kentucky earn under $32,320 and half over. The published range runs $26,110 at the tenth percentile to $46,730 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $27,136 take-home in Kentucky comes from $32,320. 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 457 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,995, the adjusted value of that $32,320 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 457 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,110 to $46,730; 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.
- Retained pay of $27,136, from $32,320, 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 457 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $29,995 — the adjusted value of that $32,320 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 457 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $34,750 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,110 at the tenth percentile, $46,730 at the ninetieth.
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 $29,995 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 $27,136 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.
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 $34,750. 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 ($26,110 to $46,730) 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 $29,995 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 $27,136 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.