Median pay · Kentucky
$32,400A year, or $16 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $22,770 | $11 |
| 25th percentile | $28,180 | $14 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $32,400 | $16 |
| 75th percentile | $37,110 | $18 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $46,120 | $22 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $34,010 | $16 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in KentuckyBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$32,400
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$15.58
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$2,266 a month at an effective rate of 16.1%.$27,197 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Kentucky sit at 90.2 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$35,937
- Against the national medianThe national median is $36,560.11.4% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 0.77 against the nation's 1.00.3,290
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $32,400 in Kentucky, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $32,400 is worth in Kentucky
Prices in Kentucky sit at 90.2 against a national average of 100, so $32,400 earned here buys what $35,937 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 64.3 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Kentucky takes in $63,726, so this occupation's median is 0.51 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 23% less concentrated in Kentucky than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for recreation workers in Kentucky
Rents in Kentucky index at 64.3 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 90.2, a gap of -25.8 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
Prices in Kentucky index at 90.2 (U.S. = 100), so the $32,400 median buys roughly what $35,937 would at national prices, $3,537 more.
The top of the pay range is stretched out. Going from the 75th to the 90th percentile adds $9,010, against $4,710 from the median to the 75th. The best-paid 10% of recreation workers in Kentucky make $46,120 or more.
The median for this job is 0.5 times the median household income in Kentucky ($63,726). Many households have two earners, so one paycheck at this level falls short of what a typical local household brings in.
Common questions
Recreation Worker pay in Kentucky, answered
How much does a recreation worker make in Kentucky?
The median wage for recreation workers in Kentucky is $32,400 a year, or $15.58 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average recreation worker salary in Kentucky?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for recreation workers in Kentucky is $34,010 a year. The median is $32,400.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for a recreation worker in Kentucky?
The median hourly wage is $15.58. At a full-time year that lines up with about $32,400 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for a recreation worker in Kentucky?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Kentucky, the lowest-paid 10% of recreation workers earn under $22,770 a year and a quarter earn under $28,180 ($10.95 and $13.55 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a recreation worker in Kentucky?
The overall salary range for recreation workers in Kentucky spans from $22,770 for the bottom 10% to $46,120 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $28,180 and $37,110 a year, with the overall median at $32,400.
What is the take-home pay for a recreation worker in Kentucky?
On the median wage of $32,400, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $27,197 a year, or roughly $2,266 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 16.1%.
Kentucky takes $1,016 of it in state income tax.
How much does a recreation worker make a month in Kentucky?
On the median annual salary of $32,400, estimated take-home pay is roughly $2,266 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $1,046 net.
Do recreation workers earn more in Kentucky than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in Kentucky is 11.4% below the national median of $36,560.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Kentucky sit at 90.2 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $32,400 a good salary in Kentucky?
It is 0.51 times the median household income of $63,726. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Kentucky run at 90.2 against a national average of 100, with rents at 64.3, so $32,400 here buys about what $35,937 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid recreation workers earn in Kentucky?
The top tenth earn $46,120 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $22,770.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Kentucky someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many recreation workers are there in Kentucky?
The survey counted 3,290 of these jobs in Kentucky for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 23% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.