Manicurists and Pedicurists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,118
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,192
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,029
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
$45,310
Kept after tax
$37,118
Worth in national money
$41,029
State rank
8
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for manicurists and pedicurists is strong here. Kentucky's middle earner gets $45,310, putting the state 8 of 49 — about 26.71% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 347.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,310 the take-home is $37,118; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,029 would nationally. The average lands at $44,140, below the middle of the range.
- For manicurists and pedicurists, Kentucky sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,310, ranking 8 of 49 and running about 26.71% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, manicurists and pedicurists sits at 347 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.
- Post-tax income for manicurists and pedicurists in Kentucky, on $45,310, is $37,118 — equivalent to $41,029 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 $44,140 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,430 |
| This salary | $45,310 |
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 | $37,118 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,587 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,321 |
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 | $43,483 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,597 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,310 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,480 and the ninetieth is $65,430 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $37,118, from $45,310, 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 347 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,029, the adjusted value of that $45,310 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 347 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $45,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,480 to $65,430. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,118 from $45,310. 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 347 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $41,029 — the adjusted value of that $45,310 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 347 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,480, the highest tenth $65,430, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $41,029 in national terms.
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, $37,118 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,480) and the ninetieth ($65,430) 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 $41,029 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 $37,118 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.