Veterinary Technologists and Technicians in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,723
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$6,867
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,170
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
$39,590
Kept after tax
$32,723
Worth in national money
$36,170
State rank
42
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 $39,590, 42 of 51 states and about 16.44% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Kentucky this is lower-paid work. Of 491 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 388. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,590 you keep $32,723 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,170 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $40,880, since top earners drag the number up.
- Kentucky's $39,590 median for veterinary technologists and technicians places it 42 of 51 states, about 16.44% 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.
- Against every occupation Kentucky reports, veterinary technologists and technicians ranks 388 of 491, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Kentucky is $32,723 after the full tax stack, from $39,590. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,170 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $40,880 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,530 |
| This salary | $39,590 |
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 | $32,723 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,991 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,192 |
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 | $38,012 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,441 |
| 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 veterinary technologists and technicians in Kentucky earn under $39,590 and half over. The published range runs $28,490 at the tenth percentile to $50,530 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 $32,723, worked from $39,590. 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 388 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Kentucky, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,170, the adjusted value of that $39,590 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 388 of 491 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for veterinary technologists and technicians in Kentucky, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,490 to $50,530; 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 $32,723, on $39,590 for work ranking 388 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 388 of 491 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $36,170 — the adjusted value of that $39,590 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 388 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 $40,880, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,490 and the top tenth $50,530, so most people doing this work in Kentucky sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,170 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 $32,723.
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 $40,880. 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 ($28,490 to $50,530) 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 $36,170 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 $32,723 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.