Packers and Packagers, Hand in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,617
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,233
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,843
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
$36,850
Kept after tax
$30,617
Worth in national money
$33,843
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 21 of 51 states for packers and packagers, hand, with a middle wage of $36,850. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, packers and packagers, hand ranks 419. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,850 you keep $30,617 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,843 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $38,810, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky ranks 21 of 51 for packers and packagers, hand at $36,850. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, packers and packagers, hand ranks 419 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $30,617 after the full tax stack, from $36,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,843 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $38,810 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Packers and Packagers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,310 |
| This salary | $36,850 |
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 | $30,617 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,789 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,130 |
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 | $35,391 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,366 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $36,850. The published range is $29,430 up to $50,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,617 take-home in Kentucky comes from $36,850. 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 419 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,843, the adjusted value of that $36,850 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 419 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for packers and packagers, hand in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,430 to $50,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,617, from $36,850, 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 419 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $33,843 — the adjusted value of that $36,850 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 419 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 $38,810, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,430 and the top tenth $50,310, 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 $33,843 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, $30,617 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 $38,810. 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 ($29,430 to $50,310) 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 $33,843 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 $30,617 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.