Marriage and Family Therapists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,582
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$9,838
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,069
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
$52,420
Kept after tax
$42,582
Worth in national money
$47,069
State rank
36
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays marriage and family therapists a middle wage of $52,420, 36 of 45 states and about 21.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 261.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $52,420 you keep $42,582, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,069 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $56,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky's $52,420 median for marriage and family therapists places it 36 of 45 states, about 21.69% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, marriage and family therapists sits at 261 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.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for marriage and family therapists on $52,420 is $42,582. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,069 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 $56,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Marriage and Family Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,690 |
| This salary | $52,420 |
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 | $42,582 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,299 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,482 |
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 | $50,283 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,792 |
| 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 marriage and family therapists in Kentucky earn under $52,420 and half over. The published range runs $41,180 at the tenth percentile to $74,690 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 $42,582, worked from $52,420. 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 261 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,069 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 261.
- Figures are distribution medians for marriage and family therapists in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $41,180 to $74,690; 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 $42,582, on $52,420 for work ranking 261 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 261 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,069, worked from $52,420, 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 261 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 $56,560, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,180 at the tenth percentile, $74,690 at the ninetieth.
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 $47,069.
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, $42,582 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $56,560. 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 ($41,180 to $74,690) 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 $47,069 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 $42,582 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.