Butchers and Meat Cutters in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,407
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$6,223
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,752
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
$37,630
Kept after tax
$31,407
Worth in national money
$34,752
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nebraska pays butchers and meat cutters a middle wage of $37,630, 39 of 51 states and about 6.25% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Nebraska this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, butchers and meat cutters ranks 430. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,630 the take-home is $31,407; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,752 would nationally. The average comes to $39,880, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Nebraska's $37,630 median for butchers and meat cutters places it 39 of 51 states, about 6.25% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Nebraska reports, butchers and meat cutters ranks 430 of 488, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for butchers and meat cutters in Nebraska, on $37,630, is $31,407 — equivalent to $34,752 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $39,880 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,630 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,840 |
| This salary | $37,630 |
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 | $31,407 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,416 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,394 |
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 | $36,375 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,685 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Nebraska earn less than $37,630. The published range is $28,600 up to $49,840, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,407 take-home in Nebraska comes from $37,630. 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 430 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,752, the adjusted value of that $37,630 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 430 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for butchers and meat cutters in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $28,600 to $49,840. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,407, from $37,630, 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 430 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $34,752 — the adjusted value of that $37,630 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 430 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $39,880, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,600 and the top tenth $49,840, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,752.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Nebraska then takes its own share, leaving $31,407.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $39,880. 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 ($28,600 to $49,840) 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 $34,752 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 $31,407 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.