Respiratory Therapists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,581
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$15,169
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,648
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
$72,750
Kept after tax
$57,581
Worth in national money
$63,648
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $72,750. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 11.58% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, respiratory therapists ranks 119 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $72,750 you keep $57,581 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $63,648 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $72,470.
- For respiratory therapists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $72,750, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.58%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, respiratory therapists sits 119 of 491 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $57,581 after the full tax stack, from $72,750. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $63,648 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $72,470 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,540 |
| This salary | $72,750 |
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 | $57,581 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,010 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,894 |
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 | $69,298 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,616 |
| 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 respiratory therapists in Kentucky earn under $72,750 and half over. The published range runs $58,330 at the tenth percentile to $92,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,581 take-home in Kentucky comes from $72,750. 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 119 of 491.
- Two cautions on $63,648, the adjusted value of that $72,750 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Kentucky. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 119 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for respiratory therapists in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,330 to $92,540; 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 $57,581, from $72,750, 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 119 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 51 for it.
- This $63,648 adjusted figure, worked from $72,750, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 119 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 119 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $58,330 and the top tenth $92,540, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $63,648 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 $57,581 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($58,330 to $92,540) 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 $63,648 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 $57,581 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.