Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,969
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$11,761
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,128
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
$60,730
Kept after tax
$48,969
Worth in national money
$54,128
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays this job a middle wage of $60,730, 41 of 51 states and about 18.22% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 195 among 491 occupations Kentucky publishes pay for.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,730 the take-home is $48,969; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,128 would nationally. The average comes to $60,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $60,730 median for special education teachers, secondary school places it 41 of 51 states, about 18.22% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 195 of 491 in Kentucky places special education teachers, secondary school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, secondary school in Kentucky, on $60,730, is $48,969 — equivalent to $54,128 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 $60,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,870 |
| This salary | $60,730 |
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 | $48,969 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,670 |
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 | $58,231 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,019 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,730 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,610 and the ninetieth is $79,870 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $48,969, from $60,730, 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 195 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 $54,128, the adjusted value of that $60,730 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 195 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $60,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,610 to $79,870. 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 $48,969 from $60,730. 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 195 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $54,128 — the adjusted value of that $60,730 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 195 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,610 at the tenth percentile, $79,870 at the ninetieth.
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 $54,128 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 $48,969.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,610 to $79,870) 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 $54,128 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 $48,969 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.