Soil and Plant Scientists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,964
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$13,376
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,650
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
$67,340
Kept after tax
$53,964
Worth in national money
$59,650
State rank
32
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for soil and plant scientists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $67,340. That is 32 of 46 states, and about 14.6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Kentucky reports figures for, this is number 140.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $67,340 you keep $53,964, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $59,650 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $76,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For soil and plant scientists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $67,340, ranking 32 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 14.6%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Kentucky's occupational distribution, soil and plant scientists sits at 140 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for soil and plant scientists on $67,340 is $53,964. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $59,650 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 $76,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,010 |
| This salary | $67,340 |
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 | $53,964 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,204 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,813 |
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 | $64,449 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,504 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in Kentucky earn under $67,340 and half over. The published range runs $57,090 at the tenth percentile to $107,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Kentucky's $53,964, worked from $67,340. 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 140 of 491.
- Two cautions on $59,650, the adjusted value of that $67,340 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 140 of 491 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $57,090 to $107,010; 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.
- The Kentucky take-home of $53,964, on $67,340 for work ranking 140 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 140 of 491 in the state.
- This $59,650 adjusted figure, worked from $67,340, 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 140 of 491 in the state. The occupation ranks 140 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 $76,110 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 $57,090 at the bottom tenth to $107,010 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 $59,650 in national terms.
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, $53,964 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 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 $76,110. 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 ($57,090) and the ninetieth ($107,010) 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 $59,650 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 $53,964 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.