Recruiter salary in the East Kentucky nonmetro area

Pay in the East Kentucky nonmetro area against Kentucky and the US

The middle half of recruiters in the East Kentucky nonmetro area earns $44,010–$71,830. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $82,090, only 2.0 times the bottom tenth, against 2.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. The mean ($60,090) is 11% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $27,820 wide, against $32,310 across Kentucky and $40,770 nationally: employers in the East Kentucky nonmetro area pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a recruiter here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $17,650 over the median, the 25th only $10,170 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $22,774 a year in employer cost. 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 $75,940 falls between the 75th and 90th percentiles in the East Kentucky nonmetro area, and the Kentucky statewide median of $69,010 falls between the median and the 75th percentile. An offer at the national rate would beat what three quarters of local recruiters earn.

What a hire really costs in the East Kentucky nonmetro area

At the $54,180 median, a local hire costs about $69,910 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $15,730 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 recruiters 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 the East Kentucky nonmetro area

Of the 16 roles we track in the East Kentucky nonmetro area, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between executive assistants ($54,660) and paralegals ($48,790). Project Coordinator is the highest at $78,100.

Measured against the US median, recruiters rank #13 of the 16 roles we track in the East Kentucky nonmetro area (-28.7%), between executive assistants (-28.6%) and payroll specialists (-29.4%). The typical role here is at -22.7%, so, measured against the US, recruiters cost less in the East Kentucky nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Recruiters hold 3.5% of the jobs in these 16 roles in the East Kentucky nonmetro area, 5.5% across Kentucky and 5.8% nationally. The job is a smaller 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 $54,180 in the East Kentucky nonmetro area to $78,850 in Elizabethtown, a gap of $24,670 a year. All 7 areas in Kentucky with more recruiters than the East Kentucky nonmetro area also pay more, among them Louisville, KY-IN ($71,880) and Lexington-Fayette, KY ($69,990).

the East Kentucky nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East Kentucky nonmetro area is #353 of 521 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the bottom quarter of US areas. Outside Kentucky, Fort Smith and Monroe pay just above the East Kentucky nonmetro area and Jonesboro and McAllen-Edinburg just below. All four are within $580 a year of the median in the East Kentucky nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many recruiters, all three pay more.

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