Average salary in Kentucky: $58,990 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in Kentucky, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in Kentucky is $58,990 a year ($28.36 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 2,000,360 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $46,920 ($22.56 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How Kentucky compares with the United States
Kentucky's mean salary is $10,780 (15.5%) below the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $4,060 (8.0%) below the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, Kentucky ranks 44th by mean salary and 44th by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | Kentucky | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $58,990 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $46,920 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $28.36 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $22.56 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 2,000,360 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for Kentucky in 2024 is 90.2, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 9.8% below the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in Kentucky pay, from low to high
One job in ten in Kentucky paid less than $27,970 a year, and one in ten paid more than $98,380. A quarter paid less than $35,410; a quarter paid more than $66,760.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | $27,970 | $35,410 | $46,920 | $66,760 | $98,380 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in Kentucky
The largest group in Kentucky is office and administrative support, with 251,890 jobs (13% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($99,250); the lowest-paid is food preparation and serving related ($28,620). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 251,890 | $43,580 | $46,160 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 225,530 | $44,450 | $54,280 |
| Production | 180,330 | $47,760 | $51,160 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 175,720 | $28,620 | $31,290 |
| Sales and Related | 170,640 | $34,590 | $46,550 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 141,040 | $78,530 | $98,570 |
| Management | 121,940 | $99,250 | $113,900 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 108,650 | $52,700 | $57,330 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 94,130 | $57,580 | $60,160 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 92,450 | $71,410 | $78,220 |
| Healthcare Support | 85,150 | $38,680 | $40,870 |
| Construction and Extraction | 76,790 | $53,150 | $57,840 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 53,490 | $34,940 | $36,370 |
| Protective Service | 44,000 | $42,310 | $47,920 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 39,210 | $84,590 | $94,100 |
| Community and Social Service | 34,550 | $54,500 | $57,300 |
| Personal Care and Service | 32,360 | $31,200 | $35,500 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 27,580 | $84,700 | $90,810 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 17,920 | $48,110 | $56,680 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 13,790 | $72,140 | $79,710 |
| Legal | 10,580 | $78,470 | $97,070 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 2,620 | $39,330 | $43,490 |
The occupations with the most jobs in Kentucky
8 of the 12 largest occupations in Kentucky with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $46,920 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 57,930 | $42,770 |
| General and Operations Managers | 52,100 | $79,370 |
| Retail Salespersons | 51,250 | $29,650 |
| Registered Nurses | 50,300 | $81,040 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 47,730 | $36,810 |
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 47,320 | $47,950 |
| Cashiers | 44,550 | $28,590 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 41,860 | $27,130 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 38,630 | $38,700 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 31,760 | $56,340 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 31,260 | $36,440 |
| Office Clerks, General | 29,750 | $37,870 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorKentucky minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in KentuckyWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsKentucky unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
Open →Take-homeKentucky paycheck calculatorPay after taxes, per paycheck.
Open →CalculatorSalary to hourly calculatorConvert any salary or hourly rate.
Open →NegotiateSalary negotiationAsk for the top of the range.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in Kentucky (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).