Ophthalmic Medical Technicians in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,261
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,729
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,661
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
$38,990
Kept after tax
$32,261
Worth in national money
$35,661
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays ophthalmic medical technicians a middle wage of $38,990, 39 of 51 states and about 14.44% 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, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 395. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,990 the take-home is $32,261; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,661 would nationally. The average comes to $40,630, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $38,990 median for ophthalmic medical technicians places it 39 of 51 states, about 14.44% 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, ophthalmic medical technicians ranks 395 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 ophthalmic medical technicians in Kentucky, on $38,990, is $32,261 — equivalent to $35,661 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 $40,630 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Ophthalmic Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,840 |
| This salary | $38,990 |
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 | $32,261 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,178 |
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 | $37,438 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,425 |
| 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 ophthalmic medical technicians in Kentucky earn under $38,990 and half over. The published range runs $30,320 at the tenth percentile to $51,840 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,261 take-home in Kentucky comes from $38,990. 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 395 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,661, the adjusted value of that $38,990 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 395 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for ophthalmic medical technicians in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,320 to $51,840; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,261, from $38,990, 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 395 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- This $35,661 adjusted figure, worked from $38,990, 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 395 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 395 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 $40,630 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,320 at the bottom tenth to $51,840 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,661 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 $32,261 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 $40,630. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,320 to $51,840) 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 $35,661 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 $32,261 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.