Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists in Kentucky
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,906
after federal, FICA and Kentucky tax
Tax takes
$12,044
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,164
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
$61,950
Kept after tax
$49,906
Worth in national money
$55,164
State rank
43
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists is on the low side in Kentucky. The middle earner gets $61,950. That is 43 of 47 states, and about 19.31% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Kentucky, this sits in the middle: 177 of 491 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Kentucky does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,950 you keep $49,906, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,164 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,970, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For zoologists and wildlife biologists, Kentucky sits in the lower band at $61,950, ranking 43 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 19.31%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Zoologists and wildlife biologists ranks 177 of 491 occupations in Kentucky by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Kentucky income tax, retained pay for zoologists and wildlife biologists on $61,950 is $49,906. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,164 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 $64,970 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,040 |
| This salary | $61,950 |
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 | $49,906 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,957 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,697 |
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 | $59,398 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,053 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,950 as a midpoint for Kentucky, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,960 and the ninetieth is $83,040 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Kentucky the take-home figure of $49,906, from $61,950, 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 177 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 $55,164, the adjusted value of that $61,950 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 177 of 491 in the state.
- The Kentucky median of $61,950 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,960 to $83,040. 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 $49,906 from $61,950. 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 177 of 491 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Kentucky, so $55,164 — the adjusted value of that $61,950 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 177 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 $64,970, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,960 at the tenth percentile, $83,040 at the ninetieth.
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 $55,164.
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 $49,906.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $64,970. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,960 to $83,040) 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 $55,164 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 $49,906 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.