Community Health Workers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,133
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$9,647
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,619
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
$51,780
Kept after tax
$42,133
Worth in national money
$46,619
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 21 of 51 states for community health workers, with a middle wage of $51,780. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Nebraska, this sits in the middle: 273 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 $51,780 you keep $42,133 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,619 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $55,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 21 of 51 for community health workers at $51,780. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Community health workers ranks 273 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 $42,133 after the full tax stack, from $51,780. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,619 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Community Health Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,970 |
| This salary | $51,780 |
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 | $42,133 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,785 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,561 |
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 | $49,723 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,888 |
| 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 community health workers in Nebraska earn under $51,780 and half over. The published range runs $38,550 at the tenth percentile to $72,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,133 take-home in Nebraska comes from $51,780. 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 273 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $46,619 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 273.
- Figures are distribution medians for community health workers in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,550 to $72,970; 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.
- Retained pay of $42,133, from $51,780, 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 273 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,619, worked from $51,780, 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 273 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 $55,020, 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 $38,550 and the top tenth $72,970, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $46,619 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 $42,133.
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 $55,020. 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 ($38,550 to $72,970) 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 $46,619 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 $42,133 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.