Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,128
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$11,242
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,147
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
$58,370
Kept after tax
$47,128
Worth in national money
$52,147
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 27 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $58,370. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Nebraska reports figures for, this is number 243.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,370 you keep $47,128 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,147 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $55,830.
- Nebraska ranks 27 of 49 for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining at $58,370. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Nebraska's occupational distribution, excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining sits at 243 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $47,128 after the full tax stack, from $58,370. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,147 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,830 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,820 |
| This salary | $58,370 |
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 | $47,128 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,080 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,639 |
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 | $55,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,983 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,370 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,800 and the ninetieth is $65,820 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,128 take-home in Nebraska comes from $58,370. 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 243 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,147, the adjusted value of that $58,370 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 243 of 488 in the state.
- The Nebraska median of $58,370 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,800 to $65,820. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,128, from $58,370, 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 243 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $52,147 — the adjusted value of that $58,370 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 243 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 $55,830, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,800 at the tenth percentile, $65,820 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,147 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 $47,128.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $55,830. 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 ($46,800 to $65,820) 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 $52,147 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 $47,128 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.