Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,515
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$11,685
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,681
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
$60,200
Kept after tax
$48,515
Worth in national money
$53,681
State rank
27
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska sits in the middle of the pack for earth drillers, except oil and gas. The median is $60,200, ranking 27 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Earth drillers, except oil and gas ranks 225 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,200 you keep $48,515, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,681 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $57,880, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Nebraska occupies the middle band for earth drillers, except oil and gas: a median of $60,200, ranking 27 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.
- Position 225 of 488 in Nebraska places earth drillers, except oil and gas in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for earth drillers, except oil and gas on $60,200 is $48,515. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,681 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $57,880 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,510 |
| This salary | $60,200 |
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 | $48,515 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,551 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,661 |
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 | $57,667 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,009 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,200 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,230 and the ninetieth is $73,510 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $48,515, from $60,200, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 225 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $53,681, the adjusted value of that $60,200 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 225 of 488 locally.
- The Nebraska median of $60,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,230 to $73,510. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,515 from $60,200. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 225 of 488 locally.
- This $53,681 adjusted figure, worked from $60,200, 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 225 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 225 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $57,880 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $48,230 at the tenth percentile, $73,510 at the ninetieth.
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 $53,681.
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 $48,515 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $57,880. 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 ($48,230 to $73,510) 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 $53,681 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 $48,515 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.