Postal Service Clerks in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,413
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,197
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,725
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
$62,610
Kept after tax
$50,413
Worth in national money
$55,725
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for postal service clerks is strong here. Kentucky's middle earner gets $62,610, putting the state 14 of 51 — about 0.77% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service clerks ranks 171 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $62,610 you keep $50,413, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,725 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $61,250, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For postal service clerks, Kentucky sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $62,610, ranking 14 of 51 and running about 0.77% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 171 of 491 in Kentucky places postal service clerks in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for postal service clerks on $62,610 is $50,413. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,725 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 $61,250 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,030 |
| This salary | $62,610 |
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 | $50,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,487 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,712 |
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 | $60,029 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,071 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,610 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,600 and the ninetieth is $75,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $50,413, worked from $62,610. 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 171 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,725 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 171.
- The Kentucky median of $62,610 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,600 to $75,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Kentucky take-home of $50,413, on $62,610 for work ranking 171 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 171 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,725, worked from $62,610, 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 171 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,600 at the tenth percentile, $75,030 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $55,725.
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, $50,413 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 ($42,600 to $75,030) 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 $55,725 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 $50,413 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.