Start with the answer
Packers and Packagers, Hand pay in Kansas and Kentucky
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Packers and Packagers, Hand is $44,460 per year in Kansas. It is $36,850 per year in Kentucky. Kansas is 20.7% above Kentucky on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 53-7064 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 9,900 wage and salary jobs in Kansas and 5,900 in Kentucky. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings
