Tax Preparers in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,440
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,180
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,647
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
$36,620
Kept after tax
$30,440
Worth in national money
$33,647
State rank
43
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Kentucky is among the lower-paying states for tax preparers. The middle earner takes $36,620, ranking 43 of 48 states — about 33.32% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Kentucky, this one sits low: 424 of 491 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,620 you keep $30,440 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,647 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,970, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky ranks 43 of 48 for tax preparers, with a median of $36,620 — about 33.32% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Tax preparers occupies position 424 of 491 in Kentucky's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $30,440 after the full tax stack, from $36,620. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,647 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,970 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,690 |
| This salary | $36,620 |
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 | $30,440 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,604 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,124 |
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 | $35,171 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,360 |
| 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 tax preparers in Kentucky earn under $36,620 and half over. The published range runs $21,750 at the tenth percentile to $80,690 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,440 take-home in Kentucky comes from $36,620. 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 424 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,647, the adjusted value of that $36,620 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 424 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for tax preparers in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,750 to $80,690; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,440, from $36,620, 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 424 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $33,647 — the adjusted value of that $36,620 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 424 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $45,970, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $21,750 and the top tenth $80,690 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $33,647.
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 $30,440.
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 48 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 $45,970. 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 ($21,750) and the ninetieth ($80,690) 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 $33,647 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 $30,440 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.