Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$20,549
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$3,321
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$22,714
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
$23,870
Kept after tax
$20,549
Worth in national money
$22,714
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $23,870. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 35.8% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 491 occupations Kentucky publishes, this job lands at 490. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $23,870 the take-home is $20,549; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $22,714 would nationally. The average comes to $33,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For motor vehicle operators, all other, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $23,870, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 35.8%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, this work ranks 490 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for motor vehicle operators, all other in Kentucky, on $23,870, is $20,549 — equivalent to $22,714 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 $33,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $19,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $23,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,710 |
| This salary | $23,870 |
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 | $20,549 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $21,267 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$829 |
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 | $22,998 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$978 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $23,870 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $19,950 and the ninetieth is $61,710 — 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 $20,549, worked from $23,870. 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 490 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $22,714 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 490.
- The Kentucky median of $23,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $19,950 to $61,710. 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 $20,549, on $23,870 for work ranking 490 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 490 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $22,714, worked from $23,870, 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 490 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $33,320 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $19,950 and the top tenth $61,710 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $22,714 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 $20,549 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $33,320. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($19,950) and the ninetieth ($61,710) 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 $22,714 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 $20,549 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.