Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,659
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$17,191
21.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,155
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
$78,850
Kept after tax
$61,659
Worth in national money
$68,155
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $78,850, ranking 46 of 49 states — about 22.02% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Kentucky this is well-paid work. Of 491 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 94 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,850 the take-home is $61,659; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,155 would nationally. The average comes to $81,530, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky ranks 46 of 49 for social scientists and related workers, all other, with a median of $78,850 — about 22.02% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Kentucky publishes a median for, social scientists and related workers, all other sits 94 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.
- Post-tax income for social scientists and related workers, all other in Kentucky, on $78,850, is $61,659 — equivalent to $68,155 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 $81,530 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,330 |
| This salary | $78,850 |
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 | $61,659 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,301 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,985 |
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 | $75,094 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,742 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,850 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $56,590 and the ninetieth is $106,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $61,659, worked from $78,850. 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 94 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $68,155, the adjusted value of that $78,850 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 94 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $78,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $56,590 to $106,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Kentucky take-home of $61,659, on $78,850 for work ranking 94 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 94 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $68,155 — the adjusted value of that $78,850 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 94 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 $81,530 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $56,590 at the bottom tenth to $106,330 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $68,155 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 $61,659.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $81,530. 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 ($56,590 to $106,330) 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 $68,155 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 $61,659 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.