Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,586
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,224
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,809
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
$36,810
Kept after tax
$30,586
Worth in national money
$33,809
State rank
40
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,810, ranking 40 of 46 states — about 13.94% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 420 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,810 the take-home is $30,586; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,809 would nationally. The average comes to $37,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 40 of 46 for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood, with a median of $36,810 — about 13.94% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood occupies position 420 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.
- Post-tax income for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Kentucky, on $36,810, is $30,586 — equivalent to $33,809 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 $37,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,700 |
| This salary | $36,810 |
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 | $30,586 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,757 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,129 |
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 | $35,353 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,365 |
| 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 sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Kentucky earn under $36,810 and half over. The published range runs $28,880 at the tenth percentile to $46,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,586 take-home in Kentucky comes from $36,810. 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 420 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $33,809 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 420.
- Figures are distribution medians for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,880 to $46,700; 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 $30,586, from $36,810, 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 420 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $33,809, worked from $36,810, 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 420 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,880 at the tenth percentile, $46,700 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 $33,809 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 $30,586.
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 46 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 ($28,880 to $46,700) 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 $33,809 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 $30,586 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.