Waiters and Waitresses salary in Kentucky
SOC 35-3031 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $29,660 median has purchasing power comparable to about $32,897 nationally. Kentucky's BEA regional price parity is 90.2 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for Kentucky.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- No formal educational credential
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in Kentucky
Every linked area below has a published estimate for waiters and waitresses. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN | $36,530 | 95.4 | 17,790 | 1.11× |
| 2 | Lexington-Fayette, KY | $34,910 | 92.9 | 5,020 | 1.20× |
| 3 | Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH | $30,690 | 88.4 | 1,720 | 0.84× |
| 4 | Elizabethtown, KY | $30,270 | 90.6 | 760 | 1.00× |
| 5 | Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN | $30,180 | 93.1 | 10,220 | 1.02× |
| 6 | Owensboro, KY | $29,790 | 88.6 | 780 | 1.08× |
| 7 | Paducah, KY-IL | $29,280 | 86.1 | 1,010 | 1.37× |
| 8 | Bowling Green, KY | $28,810 | 90.2 | 1,250 | 1.04× |
| 9 | Clarksville, TN-KY | $21,790 | 90.9 | 1,570 | 1.04× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where waiters and waitresses wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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