Nursing Assistants in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,785
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,585
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,134
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
$38,370
Kept after tax
$31,785
Worth in national money
$35,134
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays nursing assistants a middle wage of $38,370, 37 of 51 states and about 9.2% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, nursing assistants ranks 403. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,370 the take-home is $31,785; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,134 would nationally. The average comes to $39,170, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $38,370 median for nursing assistants places it 37 of 51 states, about 9.2% 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.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, nursing assistants ranks 403 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.
- Post-tax income for nursing assistants in Kentucky, on $38,370, is $31,785 — equivalent to $35,134 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 $39,170 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,450 |
| This salary | $38,370 |
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 | $31,785 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,010 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,164 |
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 | $36,845 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,408 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,370 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,390 and the ninetieth is $46,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,785 take-home in Kentucky comes from $38,370. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 403 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,134, the adjusted value of that $38,370 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 403 of 491 locally.
- The Kentucky median of $38,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,390 to $46,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,785, from $38,370, assumes a single Kentucky filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 403 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 37 of 51 for it.
- This $35,134 adjusted figure, worked from $38,370, 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 403 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 403 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,390 at the tenth percentile, $46,450 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 $35,134 in national terms.
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, $31,785 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,390 to $46,450) 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 $35,134 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 $31,785 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.