Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,562
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,928
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,731
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
$48,490
Kept after tax
$39,562
Worth in national money
$43,731
State rank
26
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $48,490, ranking 26 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 291 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,490 you keep $39,562, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,731 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $48,920, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders: a median of $48,490, ranking 26 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 291 of 491 in Kentucky places mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders on $48,490 is $39,562. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,731 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 $48,920 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,850 |
| This salary | $48,490 |
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 | $39,562 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,142 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,393 |
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 | $46,524 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,684 |
| 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 mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in Kentucky earn under $48,490 and half over. The published range runs $37,750 at the tenth percentile to $59,850 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $39,562, from $48,490, 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 291 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,731 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 291.
- Figures are distribution medians for mixing and blending machine setters, operators, and tenders in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,750 to $59,850; 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.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,562 from $48,490. 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 291 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,731, worked from $48,490, 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 291 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,750 and the top tenth $59,850, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $43,731 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 $39,562 of this wage survives to your account.
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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,750 to $59,850) 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 $43,731 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 $39,562 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.