Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,277
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$11,553
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,364
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
$59,830
Kept after tax
$48,277
Worth in national money
$53,364
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Kentucky pays this job around $59,830 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Kentucky, this sits in the middle: 211 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,830 you keep $48,277, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,364 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $59,240, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For paralegals and legal assistants the Kentucky median is $59,830, ranking 33 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Paralegals and legal assistants ranks 211 of 491 occupations in Kentucky by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for paralegals and legal assistants on $59,830 is $48,277. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,364 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 $59,240 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,730 |
| This salary | $59,830 |
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 | $48,277 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,253 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,649 |
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 | $57,370 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,995 |
| 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 paralegals and legal assistants in Kentucky earn under $59,830 and half over. The published range runs $36,560 at the tenth percentile to $78,730 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,277 take-home in Kentucky comes from $59,830. 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 211 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,364 uses one figure for the whole of Kentucky. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 491 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 211.
- Figures are distribution medians for paralegals and legal assistants in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,560 to $78,730; 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 $48,277, from $59,830, 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 211 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,364, worked from $59,830, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Kentucky address, on work sitting at 211 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,560 at the tenth percentile, $78,730 at the ninetieth.
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 $53,364 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, $48,277 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 ($36,560 to $78,730) 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 $53,364 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 $48,277 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.