Physical Therapist Aides in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,572
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$5,918
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,687
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
$35,490
Kept after tax
$29,572
Worth in national money
$32,687
State rank
18
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Kentucky is 18 of 50 states for physical therapist aides, with a middle wage of $35,490. 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, physical therapist aides ranks 437. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,490 you keep $29,572, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,687 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $36,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Kentucky ranks 18 of 50 for physical therapist aides at $35,490. 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, physical therapist aides ranks 437 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.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for physical therapist aides on $35,490 is $29,572. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,687 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 $36,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,780 |
| This salary | $35,490 |
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 | $29,572 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,696 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,099 |
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 | $34,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,329 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,490 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,470 and the ninetieth is $47,780 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $29,572 take-home in Kentucky comes from $35,490. 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 437 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,687 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 437.
- The Kentucky median of $35,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,470 to $47,780. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $29,572, from $35,490, 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 437 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,687, worked from $35,490, 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 437 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $27,470 at the tenth percentile, $47,780 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 $32,687 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $29,572.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,470 to $47,780) 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 $32,687 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 $29,572 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.