Opticians, Dispensing in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,334
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$7,956
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,163
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
$44,290
Kept after tax
$36,334
Worth in national money
$40,163
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 33 of 51 states for opticians, dispensing, with a middle wage of $44,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 354.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,290 the take-home is $36,334; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,163 would nationally. The average comes to $47,050, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 33 of 51 for opticians, dispensing at $44,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, opticians, dispensing sits at 354 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for opticians, dispensing in Kentucky, on $44,290, is $36,334 — equivalent to $40,163 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 $47,050 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,130 |
| This salary | $44,290 |
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 | $36,334 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,767 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,298 |
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 | $42,507 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,570 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,290 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,190 and the ninetieth is $65,130 — 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 $36,334, worked from $44,290. 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 354 of 491.
- Two cautions on $40,163, the adjusted value of that $44,290 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 354 of 491 locally.
- The Kentucky median of $44,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,190 to $65,130. 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 $36,334, on $44,290 for work ranking 354 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 354 of 491 in the state.
- This $40,163 adjusted figure, worked from $44,290, 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 354 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 354 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $47,050, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $30,190, the highest tenth $65,130, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $40,163 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $36,334 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.
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 $47,050. 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 ($30,190) and the ninetieth ($65,130) 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 $40,163 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 $36,334 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.