Jobs and pay in Kentucky

The highest-paying occupations in Kentucky

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1. Cardiologists$558,180
2. Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers$350,950
3. Anesthesiologists$347,960
4. Neurologists$338,850
5. Physicians, all other$327,390
6. Physicians, pathologists$324,390
7. Obstetricians and gynecologists$317,110
8. Radiologists$279,990
9. Family medicine physicians$248,730
10. General internal medicine physicians$241,530
11. Psychiatrists$237,770
12. Nurse anesthetists$222,520
13. Podiatrists$201,260
14. Dermatologists$195,830
15. Physicists$180,910
16. Chief executives$179,530
17. Pediatricians, general$175,690
18. Emergency medicine physicians$169,390
19. Surgeons, all other$162,160
20. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$150,650
21. Psychologists, all other$149,990
22. Architectural and engineering managers$147,680
23. Law teachers, postsecondary$140,820
24. Computer and information systems managers$140,360
25. Environmental science teachers, postsecondary$139,110

Where the jobs actually are in Kentucky

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand57,930 employed
2. General and operations managers52,100 employed
3. Retail salespersons51,250 employed
4. Registered nurses50,300 employed
5. Stockers and order fillers47,730 employed
6. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators47,320 employed
7. Cashiers44,550 employed
8. Fast food and counter workers41,860 employed
9. Customer service representatives38,630 employed
10. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers31,760 employed
11. Home health and personal care aides31,260 employed
12. Office clerks, general29,750 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses27,150 employed
14. Medical secretaries and administrative assistants26,430 employed
15. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners25,750 employed
16. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks23,480 employed
17. Nursing assistants23,410 employed
18. Maintenance and repair workers, general22,190 employed
19. Cooks, fast food21,750 employed
20. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers19,670 employed
21. Elementary school teachers, except special education19,080 employed
22. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive18,420 employed
23. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers18,290 employed
24. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers18,010 employed
25. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary16,330 employed

The best-paid Kentucky work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Commercial pilots$129,990 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Air traffic controllers$127,800 · Associate's degree
3. Airfield operations specialists$123,290 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Ship engineers$120,550 · Postsecondary nondegree award
5. Power distributors and dispatchers$105,600 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Gambling managers$105,340 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$100,340 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$98,860 · Postsecondary nondegree award
9. Postmasters and mail superintendents$98,570 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Insurance appraisers, auto damage$97,950 · Postsecondary nondegree award
11. Radiation therapists$97,760 · Associate's degree
12. Chemical plant and system operators$97,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Nuclear medicine technologists$95,470 · Associate's degree
14. Power plant operators$93,400 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Healthcare practitioners and technical workers, all other$91,560 · Postsecondary nondegree award
16. Diagnostic medical sonographers$91,230 · Associate's degree
17. Surgical assistants$84,600 · Postsecondary nondegree award
18. Transportation inspectors$83,970 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$82,200 · Associate's degree
20. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$80,390 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Electrical and electronics drafters$79,050 · Associate's degree
22. Dental hygienists$78,830 · Associate's degree
23. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$78,670 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians$77,990 · Associate's degree
25. Locomotive engineers$77,620 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Kentucky does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Kentucky employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Aircraft cargo handling supervisors lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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