Detectives and Criminal Investigators in Nebraska

A protective helmet, radio and safety vest at an emergency response station.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$75,682

after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax

Tax takes

$24,848

24.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$83,742

Nebraska costs less than average

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

$100,530

Kept after tax

$75,682

Worth in national money

$83,742

State rank

16

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Nebraska is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $100,530, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 7.19% above the national middle.
  • This is one of the better-paid jobs in Nebraska. It ranks 43 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
  • Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $100,530 the take-home is $75,682; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $83,742 would nationally. The average comes to $103,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Nebraska ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for detectives and criminal investigators, at $100,530 — about 7.19% 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.
  • Within Nebraska, detectives and criminal investigators ranks 43 of 488 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
  • Post-tax income for detectives and criminal investigators in Nebraska, on $100,530, is $75,682 — equivalent to $83,742 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 $103,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$68,900
Half earn under$100,530
Top tenth earn over$155,210
This salary$100,530

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

Compare with
+$3,871take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Nebraska$75,682
Take-home in Texas$79,553
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$1,876

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

Moving to
$0$103,121
$103,121in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$95,028
Raise you would need+$2,591
Prices in Texas97 vs 90

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Half the people doing this work in Nebraska earn less than $100,530. The published range is $68,900 up to $155,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $75,682 take-home in Nebraska comes from $100,530. 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 43 of 488.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $83,742, the adjusted value of that $100,530 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 43 of 488 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for detectives and criminal investigators in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $68,900 to $155,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $75,682, from $100,530, 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 43 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $83,742 — the adjusted value of that $100,530 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 43 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 $103,850, 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 $68,900 and the top tenth $155,210 — 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 $83,742 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 $75,682.

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 $103,850. 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 ($68,900) and the ninetieth ($155,210) 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 $83,742 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 $75,682 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.