School Psychologists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,332
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$16,038
21.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,584
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
$75,370
Kept after tax
$59,332
Worth in national money
$65,584
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for school psychologists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $75,370. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 21.48% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, school psychologists comes in at 107 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $75,370 the take-home is $59,332; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $65,584 would nationally. The average comes to $80,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For school psychologists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $75,370, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.48%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- School psychologists ranks 107 of 491 occupations by median in Kentucky, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for school psychologists in Kentucky, on $75,370, is $59,332 — equivalent to $65,584 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 $80,220 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $113,760 |
| This salary | $75,370 |
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 | $59,332 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,853 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,933 |
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 | $71,787 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,670 |
| 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 $75,370. The published range is $61,550 up to $113,760, 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 $59,332, worked from $75,370. 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 107 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $65,584 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 107.
- Reported values are medians; for school psychologists in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,550 to $113,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Kentucky take-home of $59,332, on $75,370 for work ranking 107 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 107 of 491 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $65,584, worked from $75,370, 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 107 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $80,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $61,550 at the tenth percentile, $113,760 at the ninetieth.
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 $65,584 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 $59,332 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Kentucky is $80,220. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($61,550 to $113,760) 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 $65,584 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 $59,332 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.