Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,303
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,837
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,390
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
$35,140
Kept after tax
$29,303
Worth in national money
$32,390
State rank
23
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $35,140, ranking 23 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 442 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,140 you keep $29,303, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,390 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for personal care and service workers, all other: a median of $35,140, ranking 23 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Personal care and service workers, all other occupies position 442 of 491 in Kentucky's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for personal care and service workers, all other on $35,140 is $29,303. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,390 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 $37,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,360 |
| This salary | $35,140 |
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 | $29,303 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,415 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,091 |
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 | $33,756 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,319 |
| 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 personal care and service workers, all other in Kentucky earn under $35,140 and half over. The published range runs $29,980 at the tenth percentile to $49,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,303 take-home in Kentucky comes from $35,140. 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 442 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,390 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 442.
- Figures are distribution medians for personal care and service workers, all other in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,980 to $49,360; 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 $29,303, from $35,140, 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 442 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,390, worked from $35,140, 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 442 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 $37,130 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 $29,980 at the bottom tenth to $49,360 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 $32,390 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 $29,303 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $37,130. 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 ($29,980 to $49,360) 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 $32,390 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 $29,303 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.