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
What to do with this data
How to use West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area at $430,260/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area's employment-weighted published-row mean is $51,158 across 338 occupation rows with employment estimates. Understanding BLS data
- Compare this nonmetropolitan area against the statewide occupation table for KY before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
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.