Salaries in Kentucky.

2 metro areas. 3445 roles.

Average cost-of-living index: 0.87x national average. Last updated April 2026.

2 cities tracked3445 roles

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Highest Paying

$305,000

Senior VP of Security

Median Role

$274,000

SVP of Engineering

Entry Level

$268,000

Chief Architect

The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay. The published wage data Orbyt holds is Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Department of Labor H-1B Labor Condition Application filings, which record a filed minimum visa base wage rather than market pay. Where BLS publishes a wage for the occupation a role maps to, it is shown on that role's page as a separate benchmark, labelled with its occupation code, metro area and the number of employed workers it covers. Last updated August 2026.

Kentucky has 2 major metro areas tracked in our salary database, with an average cost-of-living index of 0.87x the national average. The highest-paying role across the state is Senior VP of Security at $305,000 in Louisville. The median role pays $274,000.

Metro areas in Kentucky

Louisville

0.88x COL

Top paying roles

Senior VP of Security$305,000

Senior VP of Product$302,000

Chief Security Officer$293,000

Lexington

0.86x COL

Top paying roles

SVP of Data$287,000

Senior VP of Security$286,000

SVP of AI Innovation$279,000

Top 30 salaries in Kentucky

#	Role	Median	Top City	Range
1	Senior VP of Security	$305,000	Louisville	$259,000 to $396,000
2	Senior VP of Product	$302,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $392,000
3	Chief Security Officer	$293,000	Louisville	$228,000 to $381,000
4	SVP of Finance	$288,000	Louisville	$245,000 to $374,000
5	SVP of Data	$287,000	Lexington	$244,000 to $373,000
6	SVP of Technology	$282,000	Louisville	$240,000 to $367,000
7	SVP of AI Innovation	$279,000	Louisville	$237,000 to $363,000
8	SVP of Product	$279,000	Louisville	$237,000 to $363,000
9	VP of AI	$277,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $361,000
10	VP of AI Research	$277,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $361,000
11	VP of Developer Experience	$277,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $361,000
12	VP of Support Engineering	$277,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $361,000
13	VP of Reliability Engineering	$277,000	Louisville	$236,000 to $361,000
14	VP of Cloud	$275,000	Louisville	$234,000 to $357,000
15	VP of Partner Engineering	$275,000	Louisville	$234,000 to $357,000
16	SVP of Engineering	$274,000	Louisville	$232,000 to $356,000
17	CTO	$272,000	Louisville	$212,000 to $353,000
18	VP of Information Technology	$272,000	Louisville	$232,000 to $354,000
19	VP of Database Engineering	$272,000	Louisville	$232,000 to $354,000
20	VP of Analytics	$271,000	Lexington	$231,000 to $352,000
21	VP of Security	$271,000	Lexington	$231,000 to $352,000
22	VP of Network Engineering	$271,000	Lexington	$231,000 to $352,000
23	Chief Strategy Officer	$270,000	Louisville	$211,000 to $351,000
24	VP of Infrastructure	$269,000	Louisville	$229,000 to $350,000
25	VP of Privacy	$269,000	Louisville	$229,000 to $350,000
26	VP of Risk	$269,000	Louisville	$229,000 to $350,000
27	Chief Science Officer	$269,000	Lexington	$210,000 to $350,000
28	VP of Solutions Engineering	$269,000	Louisville	$229,000 to $350,000
29	VP of AI Product	$268,000	Lexington	$229,000 to $349,000
30	Chief Architect	$268,000	Lexington	$228,000 to $349,000

Tax considerations in Kentucky

Kentucky has a flat 4% state income tax. Louisville has an occupational tax of about 2.2%. The combined rate is moderate, and the low cost of living offsets the local tax.

Kentucky has a flat 4% state income tax. Lexington has an occupational tax of about 2.25%. The combined rate is moderate and the very affordable housing stretches salaries further.