School Principal salary in Kentucky

Official occupation: 11-9032 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary · Reference period May 2025 · Data updated · Confidence 95/100

In Kentucky, the median school principal earns $99,920 a year, 6% below the United States median of $105,870.

It ranks 36th of 51 states with a published figure.

Pay is relatively compressed, with the 10th percentile at $75,270 and the 90th at $130,310 (a ratio of 1.7).

About 4,940 people work in this occupation here, roughly in line with its national share (location quotient 1.17).

For context, the median across all occupations in Kentucky is $46,920, so this role pays 2.1 times the local typical wage.

Published figures

Published and derived pay figures
MeasureKentuckyNational
Median annual pay Observed$99,920United States: $105,870
Mean annual pay Observed$100,190United States: $116,100
10th percentile Observed$75,270United States: $76,280
25th percentile Observed$83,770United States: $86,040
75th percentile Observed$110,210United States: $134,630
90th percentile Observed$130,310United States: $167,770
Employment (jobs) Observed4,940
Jobs per 1,000 employees Observed2.47
Location quotient Observed1.17
Difference from United States median ($105,870) Derived−6%
Rank among 51 states Derived36
Ratio to Kentucky all-occupation median ($46,920) Derived2.13×
90th / 10th percentile ratio Derived1.73

Nearby in the ranking

  1. 34. Kansas$100,530
  2. 35. Missouri$100,400
  3. 36. Kentucky$99,920
  4. 37. Ohio$99,590
  5. 38. Indiana$98,770

Largest cities in Kentucky: Louisville, Lexington, Lexington-Fayette, Meads, Bowling Green (GeoNames). Figures are for the whole state, not individual cities.

More pay data

Source, method and data quality

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 (Public domain (U.S. Government work)). Reference period: May 2025. Updates: Yearly (spring release).
  • Observed figures are copied from the published table without adjustment. Derived figures (rankings, ratios and differences) are calculated by us from those observed figures. No figure on this page is modeled or estimated.
  • Relative standard error (PRSE) published per estimate.
  • Confidence score: 95/100. Based on the published sampling error and job count. We only publish region pages scoring 60 or more that have at least 6 observed figures.
  • Place hierarchy from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Data last updated: .
  • Full method: methodology.