Childcare Workers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,155
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$4,585
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,940
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
$30,740
Kept after tax
$26,155
Worth in national money
$28,940
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 29 of 51 states for childcare workers, with a middle wage of $30,740. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Nebraska this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, childcare workers ranks 473. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,740 you keep $26,155 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,940 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $32,670, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 29 of 51 for childcare workers at $30,740. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Nebraska reports, childcare workers ranks 473 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.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $26,155 after the full tax stack, from $30,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,940 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $32,670 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,660 |
| This salary | $30,740 |
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 | $26,155 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,880 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,279 |
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 | $29,838 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,547 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,740 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,130 and the ninetieth is $36,660 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $26,155, worked from $30,740. 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 473 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,940, the adjusted value of that $30,740 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 473 of 488 in the state.
- The Nebraska median of $30,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,130 to $36,660. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Nebraska take-home of $26,155, on $30,740 for work ranking 473 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 473 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $28,940 — the adjusted value of that $30,740 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 473 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 $32,670, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,130 at the bottom tenth to $36,660 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,940 in national terms.
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 $26,155 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $32,670. 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 ($28,130 to $36,660) 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 $28,940 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 $26,155 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.