Architectural and Civil Drafters in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,538
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$12,012
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,814
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
$61,550
Kept after tax
$49,538
Worth in national money
$54,814
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Nebraska. The middle earner gets $61,550. That is 39 of 50 states, and about 6.95% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Nebraska, this sits in the middle: 205 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,550 you keep $49,538 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,814 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- For architectural and civil drafters, Nebraska sits in the lower band at $61,550, ranking 39 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 6.95%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Architectural and civil drafters ranks 205 of 488 occupations in Nebraska by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $49,538 after the full tax stack, from $61,550. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,814 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,260 |
| This salary | $61,550 |
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 | $49,538 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,635 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,677 |
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 | $58,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,028 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,550 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,580 and the ninetieth is $87,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $49,538, from $61,550, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 205 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,814, the adjusted value of that $61,550 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 205 of 488 in the state.
- The Nebraska median of $61,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,580 to $87,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,538 from $61,550. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 205 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $54,814 — the adjusted value of that $61,550 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 205 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 $65,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,580 at the tenth percentile, $87,260 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Nebraska sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $54,814 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Nebraska adds its own income tax on top — which is why $49,538 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $65,950. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,580 to $87,260) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Nebraska rather than a national figure.
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 $54,814 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 $49,538 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.