Kentucky Labor Burden Calculator
Find the fully burdened labor rate in Kentucky, pre-filled with local SUI and tax estimates.
Pre-filled with Kentucky estimates: SUI 2.7% on a $11,400 wage base, state income tax ~4.0%. Edit any field below.
Social Security + Medicare (7.65%)
Federal unemployment (effective 0.6%)
Health, retirement, etc.
$37.34/hr
Fully burdened rate
24.4%
Burden added
$77,657
Annual cost
Burden breakdown
A $37.34/hr fully burdened rate is real money per placement. Skillora's AI screens every candidate so you only pay for the right ones.
Estimates only, using editable 2025 US defaults. Tax and insurance rates vary by employer, classification, and locality. Verify with a licensed accountant before relying on these figures.
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Calculating the fully burdened labor rate in Kentucky starts with federal payroll taxes and adds the state-specific pieces. Flat 4% income tax with a low SUI wage base. This calculator pre-fills Kentucky's estimated new-employer SUI rate of 2.7% on a $11,400 wage base, then lets you layer in workers compensation, benefits, and overhead.
Kentucky's estimated new-employer SUI rate of 2.7% on a $11,400 wage base caps state unemployment at $308 per employee per year, inside the typical range of $219 to $434 and the 26th highest of the 51 jurisdictions on this site. At a $30 pay rate the wage base is met in week 10, and SUI stops accruing for the rest of the year. Kentucky also taxes wages, at an estimated 4.0% effective rate, which the employee pays rather than the employer. For a staffing agency billing in Kentucky, the burden math follows the national pattern: FICA dominates, SUI matters until the wage base is met, and the workers comp class code decides the rest.
The result is the true hourly and annual cost of an employee in Kentucky: the number you need before setting a bill rate or comparing a W2 hire against a 1099 contractor.
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Labor burden by industry: Construction · Staffing Agency · Healthcare · Field Service · Manufacturing · Hospitality