Kentucky’s state income tax is a flat 3.5% for 2026, applied after a standard deduction of just $3,360. That deduction is small enough to barely matter, which makes Kentucky unusually easy to predict: whatever your salary, the state takes close to 3.5% of it.
On a $75,000 salary, a filer keeps about $59,085 before local tax, after $2,507 of Kentucky income tax. In Louisville or Lexington, take another $1,500 or so off, and that is the part this page cannot do for you.
The state tax is the simple part
Kentucky’s withholding formula is four steps long and has no filing status in it at all. Annualise your wages, take off $3,360, apply 3.5%, divide back down. There is no allowance credit, no married schedule and no head of household rate, so two Kentuckians on the same salary are withheld identically whatever their circumstances.
Because the deduction is so small, the effective rate sits almost on the headline: 3.11% on $30,000, 3.34% on $75,000, 3.40% on $120,000. Compare Louisiana, where a $12,875 deduction pulls a 3.09% rate down to an effective 2.56%. Same kind of tax, very different shelter.
The local tax is the one that matters
Around 170 Kentucky cities and 87 counties levy an occupational licence tax on wages, and in the two largest they are comparable to the state tax itself.
| If you work in Louisville Metro | Rate | On $75,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Occupational licence tax, everyone working there | 1.25% | $938 |
| School board tax, residents only | 0.75% | $563 |
| A Louisville resident pays both | 2.00% | $1,500 |
The calculator above does not include these, and you should assume your take-home is lower than it shows. A Louisville resident on $75,000 loses $1,500 to the city, which is 60% of what the state takes. They are set by each local government rather than by the Department of Revenue, with no single list to read them off, which is why they are deliberately absent here rather than estimated. The other thing to know is that they follow where you work, not where you live, so moving house may change nothing and changing jobs may change everything.
If you work somewhere with no occupational tax, the figure above is your whole state and local picture. If you work in a city that has one, add its rate to your gross pay and subtract that.
What comes out of a Kentucky paycheck
- Federal income tax, about $7,670 on $75,000, which your W-4 controls.
- Social Security and Medicare, $5,738. A flat 7.65%.
- Kentucky income tax, $2,507. 3.5% of your pay after $3,360.
- An occupational tax, if your workplace charges one. Not shown above.
Kentucky has no disability contribution and no paid family leave contribution, and unemployment insurance is funded by employers. So if there is a fourth deduction on your stub that is not one of these, it is something you or your employer added rather than a state requirement. Every line on a pay stub covers what the abbreviations mean.
Kentucky paycheck calculator FAQ
A flat 3.5% for 2026, charged on your pay after a standard deduction of $3,360. Kentucky’s withholding has no filing status in it, no allowances and no head of household rate, so two people on the same salary are withheld the same amount.
Most likely an occupational licence tax. Around 170 Kentucky cities and 87 counties charge one on wages and they are not included here, because each local government sets its own and there is no single source to read them from. In Louisville Metro it is 1.25% for anyone working there, plus a further 0.75% for residents.
Where you work, which is the opposite of how people usually expect it. Louisville’s extra 0.75% school board rate is the exception, since that one applies only to residents. Moving house may not change what you pay; changing jobs often will.
On a $75,000 salary, about $15,915 before any local tax: roughly $7,670 of federal income tax, $5,738 of Social Security and Medicare, and $2,507 of Kentucky income tax. That leaves about $59,085, less an occupational tax if your workplace charges one.