Labor Relations Specialists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,116
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$15,434
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,239
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
$73,550
Kept after tax
$58,116
Worth in national money
$64,239
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for labor relations specialists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $73,550. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 22.92% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 116 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $73,550 you keep $58,116, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $64,239 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $70,710, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For labor relations specialists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $73,550, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 22.92%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, labor relations specialists ranks 116 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for labor relations specialists on $73,550 is $58,116. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $64,239 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 $70,710 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Labor Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $97,860 |
| This salary | $73,550 |
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 | $58,116 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,572 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,906 |
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 | $70,058 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,632 |
| 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 labor relations specialists in Kentucky earn under $73,550 and half over. The published range runs $39,220 at the tenth percentile to $97,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $58,116, worked from $73,550. 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 116 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $64,239 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 116.
- Figures are distribution medians for labor relations specialists in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,220 to $97,860; 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.
- The Kentucky take-home of $58,116, on $73,550 for work ranking 116 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 116 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $64,239, worked from $73,550, 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 116 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 $70,710, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $39,220, the highest tenth $97,860, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Kentucky sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $64,239 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $58,116 remains.
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 $70,710. 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 ($39,220) and the ninetieth ($97,860) 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 $64,239 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 $58,116 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.