English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,154
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$17,296
22.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,666
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
$78,450
Kept after tax
$61,154
Worth in national money
$67,666
State rank
23
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 23 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $78,450. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Nebraska. It ranks 111 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $78,450 you keep $61,154 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,666 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $88,050, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 23 of 49 for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary at $78,450. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Nebraska, english language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 111 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.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $61,154 after the full tax stack, from $78,450. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,666 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $88,050 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $127,140 |
| This salary | $78,450 |
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 | $61,154 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,020 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,785 |
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 | $74,376 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,466 |
| 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 english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Nebraska earn under $78,450 and half over. The published range runs $45,610 at the tenth percentile to $127,140 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $61,154, worked from $78,450. 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 111 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $67,666, the adjusted value of that $78,450 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 111 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for english language and literature teachers, postsecondary in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,610 to $127,140; 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.
- The Nebraska take-home of $61,154, on $78,450 for work ranking 111 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 111 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $67,666 — the adjusted value of that $78,450 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 111 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 $88,050 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,610, the highest tenth $127,140, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,666 in national terms.
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, $61,154 remains.
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 49 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 $88,050. 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 ($45,610) and the ninetieth ($127,140) 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 $67,666 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 $61,154 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.