Librarians and Media Collections Specialists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,404
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,796
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,925
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
$65,200
Kept after tax
$52,404
Worth in national money
$57,925
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $65,200, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 152.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $65,200 you keep $52,404 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,925 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for librarians and media collections specialists: a median of $65,200, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, librarians and media collections specialists sits at 152 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $52,404 after the full tax stack, from $65,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,925 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,190 |
| This salary | $65,200 |
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 | $52,404 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,568 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,771 |
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 | $62,506 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,261 |
| 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 $65,200. The published range is $45,950 up to $85,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $52,404, worked from $65,200. 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 152 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,925 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 152.
- Reported values are medians; for librarians and media collections specialists in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,950 to $85,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kentucky take-home of $52,404, on $65,200 for work ranking 152 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 152 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,925, worked from $65,200, 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 152 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,950 at the tenth percentile, $85,190 at the ninetieth.
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 $57,925 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $52,404 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 ($45,950 to $85,190) 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 $57,925 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 $52,404 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.