Commercial Pilots in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,479
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$26,301
25.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,836
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
$104,780
Kept after tax
$78,479
Worth in national money
$86,836
State rank
32
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska sits in the middle of the pack for commercial pilots. The median is $104,780, ranking 32 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Nebraska reports, commercial pilots comes in at 34 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $104,780 the take-home is $78,479; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $86,836 would nationally. The average lands at $103,300, below the middle of the range.
- Nebraska occupies the middle band for commercial pilots: a median of $104,780, ranking 32 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Commercial pilots ranks 34 of 488 occupations by median in Nebraska, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for commercial pilots in Nebraska, on $104,780, is $78,479 — equivalent to $86,836 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 $103,300 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $167,450 |
| This salary | $104,780 |
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 | $78,479 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,543 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,894 |
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 | $99,003 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,616 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $104,780 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $53,710 and the ninetieth is $167,450 — 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 $78,479, worked from $104,780. 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 34 of 488.
- Two cautions on $86,836, the adjusted value of that $104,780 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Nebraska. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 34 of 488 locally.
- The Nebraska median of $104,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $53,710 to $167,450. 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 $78,479, on $104,780 for work ranking 34 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 34 of 488 in the state.
- This $86,836 adjusted figure, worked from $104,780, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 34 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 34 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $53,710 at the bottom tenth to $167,450 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $86,836 in national terms.
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 $78,479.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($53,710) and the ninetieth ($167,450) 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 $86,836 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 $78,479 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.