temp of air in fermenting bucket the same as the liquid?

the temperature strip on my bucket is just above the 3 gallon mark, and I am brewing a 2.5 gallon batch. so the temp strip is reading the air space temperature. is the beer the same temp? higher/lower?

thanks!

 

It's never going to be lower than the room/ambient temperature, where you keep your fermenter.
If it shows acceptable temperature, do not worry about it.

 

The strip would read it lower. If it's glass it can be as different as 5-7 degrees, plastic buckets have poor insulation so you would get a better read. But the wort should be within 7 degrees of ambient room temp