Occupational profile · 2025
Kentucky
Kentucky employs 2,000,360 people. The work it does most unusually is aircraft cargo handling supervisors, at 8.0× the national concentration — 1,010 jobs paying a median of $52,530.
What Kentucky is distinctive for
Detailed occupations ranked by location quotient. A location quotient is an occupation’s share of a state’s jobs divided by its share of the nation’s. One means the state looks like the country; two means twice the concentration. It is a measure of distinctiveness, not of quality, size or pay. Bars use a logarithmic scale so the lower ranks stay legible beside the leader.
- 1Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors1,010 jobs · median $52,5308.0×
- 2Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers6,260 jobs · median $350,9504.7×
- 3Maintenance Workers, Machinery2,920 jobs · median $76,7103.8×
- 4Prepress Technicians and Workers1,130 jobs · median $45,8303.7×
- 5Sailors and Marine Oilers1,470 jobs · median $47,4603.6×
- 6Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic1,120 jobs · median $50,4003.5×
- 7Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic5,510 jobs · median $54,9603.4×
- 8Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic7,290 jobs · median $45,7603.3×
- 9Social Science Research Assistants1,190 jobs · median $66,3903.0×
- 10Engine and Other Machine Assemblers1,180 jobs · median $41,5802.7×
- 11Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars1,320 jobs · median $49,3302.7×
- 12Cooks, Fast Food21,750 jobs · median $23,5002.6×
What Kentucky is made of
All twenty-two occupational groups by headcount, with the concentration figure beside each. Most states look broadly alike in this view — that is the finding, not a flaw in it.
| Occupation group | Share of state employment | Jobs | vs national | Median wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | 251,890 | 1.10× | $43,580 | |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 225,530 | 1.28× | $44,450 | |
| Production Occupations | 180,330 | 1.64× | $47,760 | |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 175,720 | 1.00× | $28,620 | |
| Sales and Related Occupations | 170,640 | 0.99× | $34,590 | |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 141,040 | 1.12× | $78,530 | |
| Management Occupations | 121,940 | 0.85× | $99,250 | |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | 108,650 | 0.93× | $52,700 | |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 94,130 | 1.20× | $57,580 | |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 92,450 | 0.68× | $71,410 | |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 85,150 | 0.84× | $38,680 | |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | 76,790 | 0.93× | $53,150 | |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 53,490 | 0.91× | $34,940 | |
| Protective Service Occupations | 44,000 | 0.91× | $42,310 | |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | 39,210 | 0.58× | $84,590 | |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | 34,550 | 1.01× | $54,500 | |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | 32,360 | 0.77× | $31,200 | |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | 27,580 | 0.82× | $84,700 | |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 17,920 | 0.68× | $48,110 | |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | 13,790 | 0.73× | $72,140 | |
| Legal Occupations | 10,580 | 0.63× | $78,470 | |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 2,620 | 0.47× | $39,330 |
Elsewhere on Kentucky
Blank cells are estimates BLS did not release, usually because too few employers reported. They are shown as gaps rather than filled. Detailed occupations are included only where at least 1,000 people are employed, below which a quotient is survey noise. A wage marked “$239,200 or more” is censored at source: BLS does not publish medians above that figure, so the number is a floor rather than the wage. A work of the U.S. government: no copyright subsists (17 U.S.C. §105). BLS OEWS ↗