Sheet Metal Workers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,930
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$11,750
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,086
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
$60,680
Kept after tax
$48,930
Worth in national money
$54,086
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for sheet metal workers. The median is $60,680, ranking 30 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Kentucky, this sits in the middle: 198 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,680 the take-home is $48,930; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,086 would nationally. The average comes to $63,790, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for sheet metal workers: a median of $60,680, ranking 30 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Sheet metal workers ranks 198 of 491 occupations in Kentucky by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for sheet metal workers in Kentucky, on $60,680, is $48,930 — equivalent to $54,086 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 $63,790 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $85,310 |
| This salary | $60,680 |
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 | $48,930 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,936 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,668 |
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 | $58,183 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,018 |
| 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 $60,680. The published range is $40,570 up to $85,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $48,930, from $60,680, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 198 of 491 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,086, the adjusted value of that $60,680 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 198 of 491 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for sheet metal workers in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,570 to $85,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,930 from $60,680. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 198 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $54,086 — the adjusted value of that $60,680 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 198 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $63,790 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $40,570, the highest tenth $85,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $54,086 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 $48,930.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $63,790. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($40,570) and the ninetieth ($85,310) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $54,086 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 $48,930 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.