Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,384
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,766
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,796
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
$39,150
Kept after tax
$32,384
Worth in national money
$35,796
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 23 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,150. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 393. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,150 you keep $32,384, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,796 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 23 of 50 for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers at $39,150. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 393 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on $39,150 is $32,384. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,796 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 $40,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,590 |
| This salary | $39,150 |
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 | $32,384 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,637 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,182 |
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 | $37,591 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,429 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,150 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,860 and the ninetieth is $45,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $32,384, worked from $39,150. 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 393 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,796, the adjusted value of that $39,150 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 393 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $39,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,860 to $45,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Kentucky take-home of $32,384, on $39,150 for work ranking 393 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 393 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $35,796 — the adjusted value of that $39,150 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 393 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,860 at the tenth percentile, $45,590 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 $35,796 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 $32,384 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,860 to $45,590) 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 $35,796 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 $32,384 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.