Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,145
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$4,585
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,794
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
$29,730
Kept after tax
$25,145
Worth in national money
$27,794
State rank
41
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for substitute teachers, short-term is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $29,730. That is 41 of 50 states, and about 28.65% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 491 occupations Kentucky publishes, substitute teachers, short-term lands at 471. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,730 you keep $25,145, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,794 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,430, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For substitute teachers, short-term, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $29,730, ranking 41 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 28.65%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Kentucky, this work ranks 471 of 491 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for substitute teachers, short-term on $29,730 is $25,145. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,794 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 $37,430 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,680 |
| This salary | $29,730 |
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 | $25,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,068 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$969 |
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 | $28,581 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,171 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,730 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,120 and the ninetieth is $64,680 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $25,145 take-home in Kentucky comes from $29,730. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 471 of 491.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,794 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 471.
- The Kentucky median of $29,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,120 to $64,680. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $25,145, from $29,730, assumes a single Kentucky filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 471 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,794, worked from $29,730, 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 471 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,430, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $24,120 at the bottom tenth to $64,680 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 $27,794 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, $25,145 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $37,430. 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 ($24,120) and the ninetieth ($64,680) 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 $27,794 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 $25,145 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.