2026 Kentucky withholding
Kentucky hourly paycheck calculator
Your rate and your hours in, one paycheck out. Kentucky taxes wages at a flat 3.5% after a $3,360 standard deduction.
That is $1,600.00 of gross pay per paycheck, $41,600.00 a year. Overtime, shift differentials and unpaid weeks are not modelled — enter the hours you are actually paid for.
Take-home pay
per paycheck · $34,267.22 a year
- Gross pay
- $1,600.00
- Federal income tax
- −$108.15
- Social Security
- −$99.20
- Medicare
- −$23.20
- State income tax
- −$51.48
- Total withheld
- $282.03
17.6% of gross goes to taxes. 2026 rates. Estimate only — your employer's payroll may differ.
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At 40 hours a week
What each rate actually pays in Kentucky
| An hour | A year, before tax | Take-home a year | Every 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15 | $31,200 | $26,275 | $1,011 |
| $18 | $37,440 | $31,070 | $1,195 |
| $20 | $41,600 | $34,267 | $1,318 |
| $22 | $45,760 | $37,464 | $1,441 |
| $25 | $52,000 | $42,260 | $1,625 |
| $30 | $62,400 | $50,252 | $1,933 |
| $35 | $72,800 | $57,614 | $2,216 |
40 hours a week, 52 weeks, filing single, paid every two weeks, no pre-tax deductions and no dependents. 2026 rates. Overtime, tips and unpaid weeks are not modelled.
What comes out
What an hour's pay loses in Kentucky
- Kentucky applies a single flat rate of 3.5% to every wage earner — no brackets, no allowances to count.
- The 2026 standard deduction is $3,360, up $90 from 2025. It is the only thing subtracted before the rate, which is why Kentucky’s deduction barely moves the number compared with states that shelter five figures.
- Form K-4 is unusual here: you only file one to claim exemption from withholding or to ask for extra. If neither applies, your employer is not even required to keep a K-4 for you.
- ⚠️ Many Kentucky cities and counties levy their own occupational licence tax on wages — Louisville and Lexington among them. This calculator covers the 3.5% state layer only.
- Federal income tax and FICA still come out of every paycheck — see the breakdown above.
Common questions
Hourly pay in Kentucky
How much is $20 an hour after taxes in Kentucky?
At 40 hours a week, $20 an hour is $41,600 a year before tax. Filing single with no pre-tax deductions, roughly $34,267 of that is take-home pay in Kentucky — about $1,318 in each biweekly paycheck. Your own figure moves with your W-4, your benefits and the hours you actually work.
Is hourly pay taxed differently from a salary in Kentucky?
No. Withholding is worked out from what you are paid in the period, not from how the job describes the pay. An hourly worker and a salaried worker who take home the same gross in the same period have the same federal tax, the same FICA and the same state withholding. The difference is that hourly pay varies week to week, so the withheld amount varies with it.
Does this include overtime?
No. Enter the hours you are actually paid for and the calculator uses that. Overtime, shift differentials, tips and bonuses are paid under their own rules — a bonus in particular is often withheld at a flat supplemental rate rather than through the normal tables, which is why it lands smaller than people expect.
What if my hours change every week?
Withholding is calculated fresh each payroll run, so a heavy week is withheld as though every week were that heavy, and a light week the other way. Over a year it roughly averages out, and the difference is settled on your tax return. Enter a typical week to see a typical paycheck.
Sources for these rates
- 2026 Kentucky Withholding Tax Formula (42A003 (TCF))
- Kentucky DOR — 2026 standard deduction announcement
- IRS Publication 15-T (2026) — federal percentage method
- IRS Publication 15 (2026) — Social Security and Medicare
Tax year 2026. Rates last checked 2026-08-20. Estimates only — not tax, payroll or legal advice.
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