Animal Caretakers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,877
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$4,803
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,739
Nebraska costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Nebraska — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$31,680
Kept after tax
$26,877
Worth in national money
$29,739
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Nebraska pays animal caretakers around $31,680 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 488 occupations Nebraska publishes, animal caretakers lands at 467. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $31,680 you keep $26,877, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,739 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,610, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For animal caretakers the Nebraska median is $31,680, ranking 29 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Nebraska, this work ranks 467 of 488 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for animal caretakers on $31,680 is $26,877. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,739 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $37,610 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,010 |
| This salary | $31,680 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Nebraska | $26,877 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,635 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,301 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $30,737 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,573 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of animal caretakers in Nebraska earn under $31,680 and half over. The published range runs $28,080 at the tenth percentile to $52,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $26,877 take-home in Nebraska comes from $31,680. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 467 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,739, the adjusted value of that $31,680 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 467 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for animal caretakers in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,080 to $52,010; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $26,877, from $31,680, assumes a single Nebraska filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 467 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $29,739 — the adjusted value of that $31,680 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 467 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,610, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $28,080, the highest tenth $52,010, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $29,739.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Nebraska's own levy, $26,877 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Nebraska is $37,610. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($28,080) and the ninetieth ($52,010) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Nebraska's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $29,739 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $26,877 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Nebraska income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.