Civil Engineers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,406
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$25,744
25.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$85,649
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
$103,150
Kept after tax
$77,406
Worth in national money
$85,649
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska is one of the better-paying states for civil engineers. The middle earner takes $103,150, which ranks 13 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 2.29% above the national middle.
- Within Nebraska this is well-paid work. Of 488 occupations with published figures in the state, civil engineers ranks 40 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $103,150 the take-home is $77,406; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $85,649 would nationally. The average comes to $106,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Nebraska ranks 13 of 51 states publishing a median for civil engineers, at $103,150 — about 2.29% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Nebraska publishes a median for, civil engineers sits 40 of 488 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for civil engineers in Nebraska, on $103,150, is $77,406 — equivalent to $85,649 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 $106,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,980 |
| This salary | $103,150 |
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 | $77,406 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,396 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,887 |
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 | $97,479 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,606 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $103,150 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $68,950 and the ninetieth is $149,980 — 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 $77,406, worked from $103,150. 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 40 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $85,649 uses one figure for the whole of Nebraska. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 40.
- The Nebraska median of $103,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $68,950 to $149,980. 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 $77,406, on $103,150 for work ranking 40 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 40 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $85,649, worked from $103,150, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Nebraska address, on work sitting at 40 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 $106,860, 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 $68,950 and the top tenth $149,980 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $85,649.
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, $77,406 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 $106,860. 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 ($68,950) and the ninetieth ($149,980) 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 $85,649 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 $77,406 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.