Bookkeeper salary in Paducah, KY-IL

Pay in Paducah against Kentucky and the US

Bookkeepers at the 90th percentile earn $66,620, 2.1 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 2.1. The middle half of bookkeepers in Paducah earns $38,020–$56,250. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $18,230 wide, between the figure for Kentucky ($19,160) and the US figure ($17,950).

What to budget for a bookkeeper here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $8,290 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $9,940, or about $12,826 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $50,670 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Paducah, and the Kentucky statewide median of $46,550 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Paducah

At the $46,310 median, a local hire costs about $59,755 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $13,445 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for bookkeepers we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Paducah

Of the 15 roles we track in Paducah, this one ranks #10 by median pay, between sales development representatives ($55,780) and administrative assistants ($41,820). Project Coordinator is the highest at $78,090.

Measured against the US median, bookkeepers rank #3 of the 15 roles we track in Paducah (-8.6%), between paralegals (-6.0%) and accountants (-12.0%). The typical role here is at -16.5%, so, measured against the US, bookkeepers cost more in Paducah than the area's general pay level would suggest. Bookkeepers hold 12.7% of the jobs in these 15 roles in Paducah, 11.9% across Kentucky and 8.7% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in Kentucky

Across the 10 areas of Kentucky with data for this job, the median runs from $41,360 in the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area to $48,000 in Lexington-Fayette, a gap of $6,640 a year. Of the 7 areas in Kentucky with more bookkeepers than Paducah, 5 pay less, the largest of them the South Central Kentucky nonmetro area ($41,360), the Central Kentucky nonmetro area ($43,740) and the West Kentucky nonmetro area ($44,090).

Paducah against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Paducah is #374 of 521 US areas for this job. Both its size and its pay sit in the middle half of US areas. Outside Kentucky, Mansfield and Traverse City pay just above Paducah and Waco and Clarksville just below. All four are within $40 a year of the median in Paducah. Of the three markets with about as many bookkeepers, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.