Statewide pay Government data
Telecom line installers in Kentucky earn a statewide median of $64,010 a year, 3% below the typical U.S. metro, ranking #25 of 50 states and DC. About 1,870 people work in the trade statewide.
Statewide pay range
States ranked near Kentucky
See all states on the telecom line installer overview.
Pay by city Government data
BLS publishes telecom line installer pay for 4 Kentucky metros. The highest-paying is Louisville/Jefferson County at $75,610, followed by Paducah and Elizabethtown.
| Metro | Median pay | Real pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville/Jefferson CountyKENTUCKY · KY | $75,610 | $81,236 | 790 |
| PaducahKENTUCKY · KY | $66,250 | $76,960 | 70 |
| ElizabethtownKENTUCKY · KY | $64,710 | $71,446 | 50 |
| LexingtonKENTUCKY · KY | $62,800 | $67,608 | 200 |
Pay: BLS OEWS, May 2025 (metro-level). Real pay: BEA price parities, 2024. How we calculate
Pay outside the cities Government data
BLS also reports pay for Kentucky's rural (nonmetropolitan) regions.
BLS OEWS nonmetropolitan areas, May 2025.
The job (national)
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3.4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,000 openings a year. Typical training: long-term on-the-job training.
Nationally, telecom line installers have 379 injuries or illnesses serious enough to miss work per 10,000 full-time workers, 4.4× the rate for all jobs (87). The most common cause is overexertion and repetitive strain.
What the work is like Government data
How often telecom line installers deal with each condition, from surveys of workers in the job.
Getting started usually takes some preparation (high school plus months of training).
O*NET 31.0 Work Context and Job Zones (U.S. Department of Labor), national.
Licensing in Kentucky Official source
The main state licensing office in Kentucky is the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. The state licenses electrical, plumbing and HVAC; general contractors are licensed locally. It can point you to the right license for telecom line installers.
Official Kentucky licensing site ↗
Requirements for telecom line installers vary by state and sometimes by city; always confirm with the official agency.
Union membership
In 2025, 8.9% of wage and salary workers in Kentucky were union members, below the U.S. rate of about 10% (#24 of 51 states and D.C.), and 10.5% were covered by a union contract. These figures cover all jobs in the state, not only telecom line installers.
BLS Union Members, 2025 (Current Population Survey), table 5.
Cities in Kentucky
All trades in Kentucky.