---
title: "Average Salary in Kentucky"
description: "Mean $58,990, median $46,920 in Kentucky (BLS OEWS May 2025), with prices, pay by field and top jobs."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/average-salary/kentucky"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Average salary in Kentucky

Mean annual wage $58,990, median $46,920 (US: $69,770 / $50,980), BLS OEWS May 2025. Median at national-average prices: $52,040 (rank 28 of 51 by that measure; rank 44 nominal).

| Percentile | Kentucky | US |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10th | $27,970 | $31,200 |
| 25th | $35,410 | $37,590 |
| 50th | $46,920 | $50,980 |
| 75th | $66,760 | $80,520 |
| 90th | $98,380 | $128,560 |

## Price levels (BEA Regional Price Parities, US = 100)

| Category | Index |
| --- | --- |
| All items | 90.2 |
| Housing (rents) | 64.3 |
| Goods | 96.0 |
| Utilities | 75.3 |
| Other services | 97.3 |

## By occupation group

| Group | Median | Workers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Management | $99,250 | 121,940 |
| Architecture and Engineering | $84,700 | 27,580 |
| Computer and Mathematical | $84,590 | 39,210 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | $78,530 | 141,040 |
| Legal | $78,470 | 10,580 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | $72,140 | 13,790 |
| Business and Financial Operations | $71,410 | 92,450 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | $57,580 | 94,130 |
| Community and Social Service | $54,500 | 34,550 |
| Construction and Extraction | $53,150 | 76,790 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | $52,700 | 108,650 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | $48,110 | 17,920 |
| Production | $47,760 | 180,330 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | $44,450 | 225,530 |
| Office and Administrative Support | $43,580 | 251,890 |
| Protective Service | $42,310 | 44,000 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | $39,330 | 2,620 |
| Healthcare Support | $38,680 | 85,150 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | $34,940 | 53,490 |
| Sales | $34,590 | 170,640 |
| Personal Care and Service | $31,200 | 32,360 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | $28,620 | 175,720 |

## Most common jobs

- [Laborer and Freight, Stock, and Material Mover, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/laborer-and-freight-stock-and-material-mover-hand): 57,930 workers
- [General and Operations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-and-operations-manager): 52,100 workers
- [Retail Salesperson](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-salesperson): 51,250 workers
- [Registered Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/registered-nurse): 50,300 workers
- [Stocker and Order Filler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stocker-and-order-filler): 47,730 workers
- [Cashier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cashier): 44,550 workers
- [Fast Food and Counter Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fast-food-and-counter-worker): 41,860 workers
- [Customer Service Representative](https://nuecareer.com/careers/customer-service-representative): 38,630 workers
- [Truck Driver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/truck-driver): 31,760 workers
- [Office Clerk, General](https://nuecareer.com/careers/office-clerk-general): 29,750 workers

## Highest-paying jobs (500+ workers)

- [Airline Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot): $350,950 median
- [Anesthesiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/anesthesiologist): $347,960 median
- [Allergist and Immunologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/allergist-and-immunologist): $327,390 median
- [Family Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/family-medicine-physician): $248,730 median
- [General Internal Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-internal-medicine-physician): $241,530 median
- [Nurse Anesthetist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nurse-anesthetist): $222,520 median
- [Chief Executive](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-executive): $179,530 median
- [Emergency Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/emergency-medicine-physician): $169,390 median
- [Architectural and Engineering Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/architectural-and-engineering-manager): $147,680 median
- [IT Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/it-manager): $140,360 median

## Most over-represented jobs (location quotient)

- [Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/aircraft-cargo-handling-supervisor): 8.04x the national share
- [Airline Pilot](https://nuecareer.com/careers/airline-pilot): 4.70x the national share
- [Maintenance Worker, Machinery](https://nuecareer.com/careers/maintenance-worker-machinery): 3.78x the national share
- [Prepress Technician and Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/prepress-technician-and-worker): 3.69x the national share
- [Sailor and Marine Oiler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sailor-and-marine-oiler): 3.61x the national share
- [Rolling Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/rolling-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic): 3.46x the national share
- [Multiple Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/multiple-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic): 3.44x the national share
- [Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic): 3.31x the national share
- [Social Science Research Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/social-science-research-assistant): 3.02x the national share
- [Engine and Other Machine Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/engine-and-other-machine-assembler): 2.70x the national share

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology