Mechatronics technician salary in Kentucky (2026)

How much does a mechatronics technician make in Kentucky?

The spread is what stands out. From $48,290 at the 10th percentile to $101,500 at the 90th, Kentucky mechatronics technician pay more than doubles across the range. That gap is mostly about who signs your check. A tech doing preventive maintenance at a small shop sits near the bottom, while a licensed maintenance tech running PLCs, robotics and motor control at a large auto plant sits near the top.

The middle 50% lands between $58,810 and $86,960, so most technicians in the state earn somewhere in that band. The location quotient of 0.36 and the 70-person head count tell you demand is concentrated, not broad. There is no deep bench of employers here, so the roles that do exist tend to cluster around the big manufacturers, and getting into one of those is what pushes you toward that $101,500 top decile.

Kentucky mechatronics salary: BLS vs Salary.com vs Indeed

The three sources disagree because they measure different things. BLS surveys actual employers and reports $65,270 as the Kentucky median, which is the most solid figure for this state. Salary.com models pay from HR datasets and lands lower, at $55,247, likely because its title matching pulls in more entry and generalist roles. Indeed averages real job postings and self-reported salaries and comes out higher at $67,759, but that number rests on just 2 reported salaries, so treat it as a loose signal rather than a reliable average.

With a sample that small on the Indeed side and a modelled figure on the Salary.com side, lean on BLS. When you walk into a pay conversation in Kentucky, anchor on the $65,270 median and the $58,810 to $86,960 middle band. Push toward the upper end if you hold PLC, robotics or controls skills and you are at one of the larger plants.

Mechatronics technician pay by metro area in Kentucky

Kentucky doesn't get a full metro breakdown from BLS for this occupation, but Indeed does flag Erlanger in northern Kentucky at about $64,992 a year. Erlanger sits in the Cincinnati logistics and manufacturing corridor near the airport, which fits a market that leans on distribution and automation work. Read it as one data point, not a ranking, since it comes from the same thin Indeed sample.

How Kentucky compares with nearby states

Inside the South, Kentucky's $65,270 median lands in the lower middle. It trails Virginia at $74,880 and Florida at $75,450, sits just above Oklahoma at $65,100, and edges out neighbor Tennessee at $64,720 and North Carolina at $63,330. So Kentucky is not the worst-paying state in its region, but it is well behind the regional leaders, and a short move across the Ohio River or south into Tennessee doesn't buy you much.

Who hires mechatronics technicians in Kentucky

The demand that does exist is concentrated in Kentucky's big vehicle plants. Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in Georgetown, the company's largest assembly plant, hires skilled maintenance technicians who need an associate degree plus hands-on skills in PLCs, motion and motor control, hydraulics and pneumatics. That role sits squarely in mechatronics territory. Ford's Louisville Assembly Plant runs the same kind of skilled-trades maintenance work, where PLC, robotics and automation experience is preferred for the advanced electrical roles.

These plants are also where the top-decile pay lives. If you want to reach that $101,500 upper end in Kentucky, the maintenance and controls teams at the large automotive and automated-logistics operations are the realistic path, not the smaller general shops.

How to earn more as a mechatronics technician in Kentucky

Stack the controls certifications the plants ask for

The Kentucky job postings that pay best name PLCs, robotics and motor control by name. Building a documented skill stack around those is the most direct lever you have. See the mechatronics certifications guide for which credentials carry weight with plant maintenance teams and how to sequence them.

Get into an automotive maintenance team, not a general shop

The gap between the $58,810 lower-middle and the $86,960 upper-middle in Kentucky is largely about employer size. Toyota in Georgetown and Ford in Louisville staff skilled-trades maintenance roles that push toward the top decile. Landing one of those is worth more than a small raise anywhere else in the state.

Step up to the controls engineer track

Kentucky's technician median tops out around $101,500 at the 90th percentile. Moving into a controls or automation engineering role changes the ceiling entirely. Read how the jump works in the controls engineer path and the mechatronics salary guide before you plan the move.

Sources & methodology

Figures on this page come from four independent datasets, retrieved 2026-07-14. Where they disagree, the disagreement is shown rather than averaged away; the source-comparison section explains why each number differs.

• BLS OEWS, SOC 17-3024, May 2025 national and state estimates (state file oesm25st.zip). Employer-reported, the authoritative baseline.
• Salary.com, Mechatronics Technician in Kentucky, as of July 01, 2026. HR-reported and modelled averages.
• Indeed, mechatronics technician salaries in Kentucky, based on 2 reported salaries. Posting-derived.
• Toyota Skilled Maintenance Technician, Georgetown KY (Toyota Careers)
• Ford Louisville jobs (Ford Careers)