Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area Salaries

BLS nonmetropolitan reporting area wages for Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area (May 2025)

General and Operations Managers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area

General and Operations Managers publishes $74,060 here versus $105,770 nationally (-30.0%; 4,610metro-area jobs). Next is Cooks, Fast Food at $22,350 locally versus $30,890 nationally (-27.6%).

  1. General and Operations Managers$74,060 in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 30.0% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (4,610 published local jobs).
  2. Cooks, Fast Food$22,350 in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 27.6% below the national Cooks, Fast Food median of $30,890 (2,540 published local jobs).
  3. Fast Food and Counter Workers$22,740 in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 27.1% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (3,720 published local jobs).
  4. Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants$36,720 in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 20.1% below the national Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants median of $45,930 (2,110 published local jobs).

General and Operations Managers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.

BLS OEWS metro wage desk

MSA 2100003 · Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area $53K mean

MEAN-TRACE · RPP-UNK · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-UNK · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL

  • MEAN-TRACE #407/528
  • RPP-UNK RPP n/a
  • OCC-MOST 412 occs
  • TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $316K
  • EMP-MIX Industrial P…
  • TREND-UNK Pay chg n/a
  • PHOTO-FINISH Abilene, TX
  • BOOK-FULL 405 rows · May 2025

Read with Abilene, TX (+$22 on published-row mean) · Understanding BLS wage data

Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.

Published-row mean neighbourhood around Central Kentucky nonmetropo…

Guayama, PR · lowest mean: $32KGuayama, PR · lowest mean$32KCentral Kentucky non… · this MSA: $53KCentral Kentucky non… · this…$53KAbilene, TX · near: $53KAbilene, TX · near$53KHill Country Region… · near: $53KHill Country Region… · near$53KNorthwestern Pennsyl… · near: $53KNorthwestern Pennsyl… · near$53KPinehurst-Southern P… · near: $53KPinehurst-Southern P… · near$53KSan Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · highest mean: $119KSan Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · high…$119K
Read the chart as text
Label Value
Guayama, PR · lowest mean $32K
Central Kentucky non… · this MSA $53K
Abilene, TX · near $53K
Hill Country Region… · near $53K
Northwestern Pennsyl… · near $53K
Pinehurst-Southern P… · near $53K
San Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · highest mean $119K

Largest published OEWS rows in this nonmetropolitan area

Industrial Production Managers and Software Developers lead published employment inside Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.

  1. 1. Industrial Production Managers 610 jobs · $107,940
  2. 2. Software Developers 600 jobs · $105,470
  3. 3. Financial Managers 550 jobs · $109,990
  4. 4. Nurse Practitioners 500 jobs · $120,010
  5. 5. Pharmacists 360 jobs · $133,080
  6. 6. Sales Managers 350 jobs · $115,440
  7. 7. Computer and Information Systems Managers 230 jobs · $130,510
  8. 8. Administrative Services Managers 220 jobs · $104,990
  9. 9. Chief Executives 210 jobs · $152,300
  10. 10. Architectural and Engineering Managers 210 jobs · $131,170
  11. 11. Computer Network Architects 190 jobs · $105,490
  12. 12. Physicians, All Other 180 jobs · $315,840
  13. 13. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 170 jobs · $109,870
  14. 14. Physician Assistants 120 jobs · $106,760
  15. 15. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 120 jobs · $105,880
  16. 16. Family Medicine Physicians 100 jobs · $215,940
  17. 17. Dentists, General 100 jobs · $103,720
  18. 18. Marketing Managers 80 jobs · $107,710

Occupations Tracked

412

with wage data

Published-Row Mean

$53,261

employment-weighted, 405 complete rows

Top Salary

$315,840

Physicians, All Other

Top-pay occupations in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area, by employment

Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.

# Occupation Median Salary
1 Industrial Production Managers $107,940
2 Software Developers $105,470
3 Financial Managers $109,990
4 Nurse Practitioners $120,010
5 Pharmacists $133,080
6 Sales Managers $115,440
7 Computer and Information Systems Managers $130,510
8 Administrative Services Managers $104,990
9 Chief Executives $152,300
10 Architectural and Engineering Managers $131,170
11 Computer Network Architects $105,490
12 Physicians, All Other $315,840
13 Education Administrators, Postsecondary $109,870
14 Physician Assistants $106,760
15 Business Teachers, Postsecondary $105,880
16 Family Medicine Physicians $215,940
17 Dentists, General $103,720
18 Marketing Managers $107,710
19 Purchasing Managers $112,710
20 Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates $141,750
21 Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels $108,550
22 General Internal Medicine Physicians $165,500
23 Public Relations Managers $105,890
24 Optometrists $114,110
25 Nurse Anesthetists $221,580

Lowest Paying Jobs in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area

Other BLS Wage Areas in KY

Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.

Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale

Two OEWS peer sets outside KY. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($53,261 here) and summed published employment.

Similar employment scale

Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.

Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.

Frequently Asked Questions

What average wage does BLS publish for this nonmetropolitan area?
BLS does not publish a single All Occupations mean for every nonmetropolitan reporting area on this page. WageDex's employment-weighted mean of the 405 published occupation means with employment estimates is $53,261/year (OEWS May 2025). That figure covers only occupations BLS published for this local area — 412 rows carry a median here. Averaging the 25 highest medians alone yields $134,088, which describes the displayed top tier only.
What is the highest paying job in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area?
The highest paying occupation in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area is Physicians, All Other with a median salary of $315,840/year. The second highest is Nurse Anesthetists at $221,580/year.
What jobs pay the least in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area?
The lowest paying occupation in Central Kentucky nonmetropolitan area is Cooks, Fast Food with a median salary of $22,350/year according to BLS data.
Where do these nonmetropolitan wage rows come from?
Every occupation wage on this page is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimates for BLS nonmetropolitan reporting areas. OEWS surveys about 1.1 million establishments; nonmetro tables use BLS's balance-of-state geography, not a city MSA. WageDex does not invent missing occupations — only published rows appear.

Related federal data

Last updated: May 2025 (BLS OEWS annual release). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The local-area benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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