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Bowling Green, Kentucky Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Bowling Green, Kentucky take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and city/local taxes for 2026.

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Warren County may layer a separate county-level OLT on wages earned outside Bowling Green city limits; that overlay is not modeled by the calculator.

Quick answer

Effectively yes. Bowling Green, the county seat of Warren County, levies a 1.75% occupational license tax on wages earned within city limits, work-location based. At $85,000 single, take-home is $64,283 after federal tax, FICA, Kentucky's flat state line, and the Bowling Green OLT.

Bowling Green sits in Warren County in south-central Kentucky and levies a 1.75% occupational license tax on wages earned within city limits, applied uniformly to residents and non-residents who work in the city. Western Kentucky University, the largest local employer outside the public sector, anchors a research and undergraduate base of more than 16,000 students. The General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant has been the sole production location for the Chevrolet Corvette since 1981; every Corvette built in the past four decades came off that line. The National Corvette Museum, across I-65 from the plant, draws car-enthusiast traffic year-round and contains the famous 2014 sinkhole exhibit. Beech Bend Park offers regional amusement-park and drag-strip traffic. The December 2021 tornado outbreak in Western Kentucky caused severe damage in Bowling Green; recovery and rebuilding work continues. KY does not operate a state disability insurance program. Federal income tax computes to $9,870 on $85,000 single, with Kentucky state tax at $2,857, FICA combined at $6,503, and the Bowling Green OLT line at $1,488, for take-home of $64,283. Adjust the calculator above for 401(k) or HSA contributions to see how the Bowling Green state-and-city stack responds.

$85,000 single filer take-home comparison

Bowling Green, Kentucky

$64,300

Kentucky (no city tax)

$65,800

Texas (no income tax)

$68,600

Bowling Green, Kentucky take-home is -$1,500 vs the state-only figure and -$4,300 vs the no-income-tax baseline.

Bowling Green, Kentucky local tax breakdown

Local bracket schedule applied by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0+1.75%

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Bowling Green, Kentucky take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Kentucky's state income tax schedule, the Bowling Green, Kentucky local income tax. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages. Per-city resident and non-resident rules are described in the prose above where they differ.

Bowling Green, Kentucky paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Bowling Green?
Federal income tax computes to $9,870 on $85,000 single, with the top slice in the 22% bracket after the standard deduction. Federal mechanics apply identically nationwide, so a Bowling Green single filer sees the same federal line as a Louisville or Owensboro counterpart on the same gross.
How is Bowling Green's OLT structured?
Bowling Green's 1.75% OLT applies to wages earned within city limits, withheld by the employer at the source for all workers regardless of residency. The city collects directly. At $85,000, the OLT line resolves to $1,488 on the year. WKU campus wages fall under the standard rate.
How did the December 2021 tornado affect the local tax structure?
The December 10-11, 2021 tornado outbreak hit Bowling Green directly, killing more than a dozen residents and destroying the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory and many homes. Long-term rebuilding work continues. The OLT structure and rate were unchanged by the disaster; recovery and disaster-relief funding flowed primarily through state and federal channels.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Bowling Green?
Pre-tax 401(k) and HSA contributions at $85,000 reduce federal and Kentucky taxable income at a combined marginal rate of 25.5%. The Bowling Green OLT is generally assessed on gross wages, so pre-tax deferrals trim federal and state lines but typically not the OLT layer. Three lines respond differently to one deferral.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Bowling Green?
MFJ at $85,000 produces a take-home of about $68,313, roughly $4,030 more than the single estimate. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled federal standard deduction drive most of the change. Kentucky's flat state rate is filing-status-neutral, and the Bowling Green 1.75% OLT applies per worker across all four filing statuses. Head of Household clears about $67,205, around $2,922 more than Single, and combined MFS take-home lands about $4,030 less than MFJ.
How does Bowling Green compare to Owensboro?
Owensboro, a smaller Western Kentucky city on the Ohio River, levies an OLT close to but slightly above Bowling Green's 1.75%. The two cities produce similar combined state-and-local burdens. Federal tax, FICA, and Kentucky's flat state line are identical between them; the OLT rate gap is the only meaningful paycheck-line difference.

See also

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Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Bowling Green, Kentucky paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal, state, and city sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-06-25