Chemists in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,811
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$16,079
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,074
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
$74,890
Kept after tax
$58,811
Worth in national money
$65,074
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nebraska pays chemists a middle wage of $74,890, 48 of 51 states and about 17.92% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Nebraska, this sits in the middle: 127 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 $74,890 you keep $58,811 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $65,074 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $84,560, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska's $74,890 median for chemists places it 48 of 51 states, about 17.92% 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.
- Chemists ranks 127 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 $58,811 after the full tax stack, from $74,890. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $65,074 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $84,560 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Chemists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,510 |
| This salary | $74,890 |
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 | $58,811 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,515 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,770 |
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 | $71,046 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,446 |
| 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 chemists in Nebraska earn under $74,890 and half over. The published range runs $62,280 at the tenth percentile to $128,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $58,811, worked from $74,890. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 127 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $65,074, the adjusted value of that $74,890 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 127 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for chemists in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,280 to $128,510; 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.
- The Nebraska take-home of $58,811, on $74,890 for work ranking 127 of 488 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 127 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $65,074 — the adjusted value of that $74,890 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 127 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 $84,560, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $62,280 and the top tenth $128,510 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Nebraska is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $65,074 in national terms.
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, $58,811 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 $84,560. 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 ($62,280) and the ninetieth ($128,510) 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 $65,074 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 $58,811 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.