Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,826
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$17,274
21.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,340
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
$79,100
Kept after tax
$61,826
Worth in national money
$68,340
State rank
41
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $79,100. That is 41 of 46 states, and about 24.16% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 491 occupations Kentucky reports, this job comes in at 93 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $79,100 you keep $61,826, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $68,340 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $84,590, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For software quality assurance analysts and testers, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $79,100, ranking 41 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 24.16%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Software quality assurance analysts and testers ranks 93 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.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for software quality assurance analysts and testers on $79,100 is $61,826. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $68,340 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $84,590 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,340 |
| This salary | $79,100 |
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 | $61,826 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,477 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,989 |
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 | $75,332 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,747 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,100 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,290 and the ninetieth is $128,340 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $61,826, from $79,100, 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 93 of 491 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $68,340 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 93.
- The Kentucky median of $79,100 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,290 to $128,340. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,826 from $79,100. 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 93 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $68,340, worked from $79,100, 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 93 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 $84,590 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $44,290 at the bottom tenth to $128,340 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $68,340 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 $61,826 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 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 $84,590. 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 ($44,290) and the ninetieth ($128,340) 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 $68,340 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 $61,826 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.