Mechanical Engineers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,500
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$24,550
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,560
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
$101,050
Kept after tax
$76,500
Worth in national money
$84,560
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays mechanical engineers around $101,050 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 41 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $101,050 you keep $76,500 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $84,560 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $103,320, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mechanical engineers the Kentucky median is $101,050, ranking 28 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 41 of 491 occupations by median in Kentucky, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $76,500 after the full tax stack, from $101,050. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $84,560 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $103,320 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $139,810 |
| This salary | $101,050 |
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 | $76,500 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,919 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,318 |
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 | $96,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,202 |
| 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 $101,050. The published range is $65,370 up to $139,810, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $76,500, from $101,050, 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 41 of 491 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $84,560, the adjusted value of that $101,050 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 41 of 491 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,370 to $139,810. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $76,500 from $101,050. 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 41 of 491 locally.
- This $84,560 adjusted figure, worked from $101,050, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 41 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 41 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,370 at the bottom tenth to $139,810 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $84,560.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $76,500.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($65,370) and the ninetieth ($139,810) 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 $84,560 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 $76,500 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.