Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,226
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$8,224
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,148
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
$45,450
Kept after tax
$37,226
Worth in national money
$41,148
State rank
13
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Kentucky's middle earner gets $45,450, putting the state 13 of 50 — about 5.16% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 344 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,450 you keep $37,226, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,148 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, Kentucky sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $45,450, ranking 13 of 50 and running about 5.16% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 344 of 491 in Kentucky places packaging and filling machine 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders on $45,450 is $37,226. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,148 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 $46,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,250 |
| This salary | $45,450 |
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 | $37,226 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,699 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,324 |
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 | $43,617 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,601 |
| 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Kentucky earn under $45,450 and half over. The published range runs $35,250 at the tenth percentile to $61,250 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,226 take-home in Kentucky comes from $45,450. 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 344 of 491.
- Two cautions on $41,148, the adjusted value of that $45,450 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 344 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,250 to $61,250; 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 $37,226, from $45,450, 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 344 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 50 for it.
- This $41,148 adjusted figure, worked from $45,450, 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 344 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 344 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,250 and the top tenth $61,250, 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 $41,148 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, $37,226 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,250 to $61,250) 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 $41,148 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 $37,226 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.