Slaughterers and Meat Packers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,754
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,576
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,100
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
$38,330
Kept after tax
$31,754
Worth in national money
$35,100
State rank
29
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky sits in the middle of the pack for slaughterers and meat packers. The median is $38,330, ranking 29 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 404 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,330 you keep $31,754 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,100 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $39,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky occupies the middle band for slaughterers and meat packers: a median of $38,330, ranking 29 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Slaughterers and meat packers occupies position 404 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.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $31,754 after the full tax stack, from $38,330. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,100 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $39,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Slaughterers and Meat Packers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,400 |
| This salary | $38,330 |
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 | $31,754 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,978 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,163 |
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 | $36,807 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,407 |
| 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 slaughterers and meat packers in Kentucky earn under $38,330 and half over. The published range runs $36,600 at the tenth percentile to $42,400 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,754 take-home in Kentucky comes from $38,330. 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 404 of 491.
- Two cautions on $35,100, the adjusted value of that $38,330 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 404 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for slaughterers and meat packers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,600 to $42,400; 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 $31,754, from $38,330, 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 404 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 47 for it.
- This $35,100 adjusted figure, worked from $38,330, 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 404 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 404 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,600 at the tenth percentile, $42,400 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 $35,100.
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, $31,754 remains.
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 47 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 ($36,600 to $42,400) 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 $35,100 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 $31,754 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.