Kentucky and West Virginia at a glance
Kentucky and West Virginia share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $29,937 a year after taxes and the four basics in Kentucky and $31,148 in West Virginia.
West Virginia comes out ahead by $1,211 a year ($101 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 4,534,824 people in 120 counties in Kentucky and 1,778,373 people in 55 counties in West Virginia.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. State income tax takes $2,269 in Kentucky and $1,965 in West Virginia, which leaves take-home pay of $48,069 and $48,374.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $75,032 in Kentucky and $75,016 in West Virginia, a difference of $16. The gap does not widen much with income because the two states tax at similar rates.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $946 a month in Kentucky and $840 in West Virginia, so West Virginia is $106 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $1,874 and $2,169, and gasoline $1,470 and $1,543. Together the basics cost $18,132 a year in Kentucky and $17,225 in West Virginia.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $63,726 in Kentucky and $59,608 in West Virginia. Homeowners pay a median of $1,544 a year in property tax in Kentucky and $865 in West Virginia. Commuters travel 24.0 minutes each way on average in Kentucky and 26.6 in West Virginia.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.