Kentucky · BLS May 2025
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 320 substitute teachers, short-term working in Kentucky. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · Kentucky
$29,730A year, or $14.29 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $24,120 | $11.60 |
| 25th percentile | $26,880 | $12.92 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $29,730 | $14.29 |
| 75th percentile | $45,350 | $21.81 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $64,680 | $31.10 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $37,430 | $17.99 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $29,730 salary in Kentucky, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in Kentucky sit at 90.2 against a national average of 100, so $29,730 earned here buys what $32,975 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for substitute teachers in Kentucky is $29,730 a year, or $14.29 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.
On the median wage of $29,730, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $25,145 a year, or roughly $2,095 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.4%.
Kentucky takes $923 of it in state income tax.
No. The median in Kentucky is 28.7% below the national median of $41,670.
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.
It is 0.47 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 $29,730 here buys about what $32,975 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $64,680 a year or more, against $24,120 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, 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.
The survey counted 320 of these jobs in Kentucky for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 95% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources