West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area Salaries
BLS nonmetropolitan reporting area wages for West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area (May 2025)
General and Operations Managers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area
General and Operations Managers publishes $68,370 here versus $105,770 nationally (-35.4%; 2,960metro-area jobs). Next is Fast Food and Counter Workers at $23,450 locally versus $31,200 nationally (-24.8%).
- General and Operations Managers$68,370 in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 35.4% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (2,960 published local jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$23,450 in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 24.8% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,820 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$76,960 in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 21.1% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (2,710 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$28,950 in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area sits 18.2% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,870 published local jobs).
General and Operations Managers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 2100001 · West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area $51K mean
MEAN-TRACE · RPP-UNK · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-UNK · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-TRACE #460/528
- RPP-UNK RPP n/a
- OCC-MID 344 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $430K
- EMP-MIX Industrial P…
- TREND-UNK Pay chg n/a
- PHOTO-FINISH Northwest Oklaho…
- BOOK-FULL 338 rows · May 2025
Read with Northwest Oklahoma nonmetropolitan area ($38 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 West Kentucky nonmetropolit…
Largest published OEWS rows in this nonmetropolitan area
Industrial Production Managers and Nurse Practitioners lead published employment inside West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Industrial Production Managers 600 jobs · $101,720
- 2. Nurse Practitioners 300 jobs · $110,660
- 3. Financial Managers 280 jobs · $112,980
- 4. Sales Managers 270 jobs · $111,190
- 5. Pharmacists 240 jobs · $132,280
- 6. Software Developers 150 jobs · $103,580
- 7. Mechanical Engineers 150 jobs · $100,360
- 8. Physicians, All Other 140 jobs · $430,260
- 9. Chief Executives 110 jobs · $151,250
- 10. Administrative Services Managers 110 jobs · $99,990
- 11. Architectural and Engineering Managers 100 jobs · $135,850
- 12. Computer and Information Systems Managers 100 jobs · $112,510
- 13. Electrical Engineers 100 jobs · $103,120
- 14. Family Medicine Physicians 80 jobs · $147,460
- 15. Human Resources Managers 80 jobs · $106,040
- 16. Marketing Managers 60 jobs · $127,510
- 17. Chemical Engineers 60 jobs · $127,310
- 18. Physician Assistants 60 jobs · $115,490
Occupations Tracked
344
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$51,158
employment-weighted, 338 complete rows
Top Salary
$430,260
Physicians, All Other
Top-pay occupations in West 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 | $101,720 |
| 2 | Nurse Practitioners | $110,660 |
| 3 | Financial Managers | $112,980 |
| 4 | Sales Managers | $111,190 |
| 5 | Pharmacists | $132,280 |
| 6 | Software Developers | $103,580 |
| 7 | Mechanical Engineers | $100,360 |
| 8 | Physicians, All Other | $430,260 |
| 9 | Chief Executives | $151,250 |
| 10 | Administrative Services Managers | $99,990 |
| 11 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $135,850 |
| 12 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $112,510 |
| 13 | Electrical Engineers | $103,120 |
| 14 | Family Medicine Physicians | $147,460 |
| 15 | Human Resources Managers | $106,040 |
| 16 | Marketing Managers | $127,510 |
| 17 | Chemical Engineers | $127,310 |
| 18 | Physician Assistants | $115,490 |
| 19 | Facilities Managers | $99,070 |
| 20 | Dentists, General | $130,000 |
| 21 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $215,420 |
| 22 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $104,990 |
| 23 | Materials Engineers | $99,530 |
| 24 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $156,550 |
| 25 | Optometrists | $103,530 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $19,690 |
| Bartenders | $21,860 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $22,140 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $22,850 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $22,900 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $22,990 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $23,030 |
| Dietetic Technicians | $23,040 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $23,120 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $23,450 |
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 ($51,158 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
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? ▼
What is the highest paying job in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area? ▼
What jobs pay the least in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area? ▼
Where do these nonmetropolitan wage rows come from? ▼
Related federal data
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.