The highest paying job in Kentucky is Emergency Medicine Physicians, with a median salary of $239,100 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in KY based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $239,100 | $265,570 | 310 |
| 2 | Pediatricians, General | $237,740 | $236,980 | 260 |
| 3 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $231,240 | $307,100 | 510 |
| 4 | Psychiatrists | $229,630 | $238,150 | 200 |
| 5 | Nurse Anesthetists | $212,430 | $224,920 | 1,050 |
| 6 | Podiatrists | $198,990 | $186,830 | 60 |
| 7 | Physicists | $168,660 | $178,660 | 30 |
| 8 | Chief Executives | $146,630 | $208,380 | 2,950 |
| 9 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $138,620 | $134,750 | 420 |
| 10 | Dentists, General | $135,550 | $179,380 | 910 |
| 11 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $134,880 | $143,050 | 1,420 |
| 12 | Medical Dosimetrists | $134,070 | $118,480 | 50 |
| 13 | Pharmacist | $132,750 | $130,990 | 5,310 |
| 14 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $132,700 | $142,980 | 2,870 |
| 15 | Optometrists | $132,000 | $154,120 | 500 |
| 16 | Natural Sciences Managers | $131,780 | $135,590 | 400 |
| 17 | Law Teachers, Postsecondary | $128,380 | $126,030 | 120 |
| 18 | Air Traffic Controllers | $126,550 | $121,680 | 210 |
| 19 | Financial Manager | $125,490 | $137,650 | 6,120 |
| 20 | Psychologists, All Other | $124,550 | $122,270 | 220 |
| 21 | Marketing Manager | $123,480 | $134,320 | 2,130 |
| 22 | Managers, All Other | $123,010 | $126,100 | 2,290 |
| 23 | Actuaries | $120,580 | $130,610 | 100 |
| 24 | Sales Manager | $120,500 | $140,670 | 6,950 |
| 25 | Aerospace Engineers | $117,660 | $127,580 | 210 |
Average Salary in Kentucky · All Kentucky Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Kentucky are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Emergency Medicine Physicians, pays $176,290 more than the state average of $62,809 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $117,660, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Kentucky's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.