Pharmacy Aides in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,895
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,715
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,940
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
$34,610
Kept after tax
$28,895
Worth in national money
$31,940
State rank
41
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for pharmacy aides is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $34,610. That is 41 of 48 states, and about 8.15% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 491 occupations Kentucky publishes, pharmacy aides lands at 445. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,610 the take-home is $28,895; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,940 would nationally. The average comes to $34,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For pharmacy aides, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $34,610, ranking 41 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 8.15%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, this work ranks 445 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for pharmacy aides in Kentucky, on $34,610, is $28,895 — equivalent to $31,940 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 $34,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Pharmacy Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $40,940 |
| This salary | $34,610 |
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 | $28,895 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,989 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,079 |
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 | $33,249 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,305 |
| 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 $34,610. The published range is $30,000 up to $40,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $28,895, worked from $34,610. 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 445 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,940, the adjusted value of that $34,610 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 445 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for pharmacy aides in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $30,000 to $40,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kentucky take-home of $28,895, on $34,610 for work ranking 445 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 445 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $31,940 — the adjusted value of that $34,610 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 445 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,000 at the bottom tenth to $40,940 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 $31,940 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Kentucky then takes its own share, leaving $28,895.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,000 to $40,940) 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 $31,940 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 $28,895 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.