Speech-Language Pathologists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,801
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$18,749
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,628
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
$83,550
Kept after tax
$64,801
Worth in national money
$71,628
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Kentucky pays speech-language pathologists a middle wage of $83,550, 37 of 51 states and about 14.63% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Kentucky. It ranks 76 out of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Kentucky is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $83,550 the take-home is $64,801; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,628 would nationally. The average comes to $89,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Kentucky's $83,550 median for speech-language pathologists places it 37 of 51 states, about 14.63% 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.
- Within Kentucky, speech-language pathologists ranks 76 of 491 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for speech-language pathologists in Kentucky, on $83,550, is $64,801 — equivalent to $71,628 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 $89,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Speech-Language Pathologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,250 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $121,090 |
| This salary | $83,550 |
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 | $64,801 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,607 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,056 |
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 | $79,560 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,839 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Kentucky earn less than $83,550. The published range is $63,250 up to $121,090, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $64,801, from $83,550, 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 76 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 $71,628 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 76.
- Reported values are medians; for speech-language pathologists in Kentucky the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,250 to $121,090. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Kentucky is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,801 from $83,550. 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 76 of 491 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $71,628, worked from $83,550, 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 76 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 $89,180 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 $63,250 at the bottom tenth to $121,090 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $71,628.
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, $64,801 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $89,180. 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 ($63,250 to $121,090) 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 $71,628 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 $64,801 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.