Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,250
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$11,600
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,388
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
$59,850
Kept after tax
$48,250
Worth in national money
$53,388
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 32 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $59,850. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Nebraska, this sits in the middle: 230 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,850 you keep $48,250, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $53,388 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $61,050, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska ranks 32 of 51 for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers at $59,850. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers ranks 230 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.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers on $59,850 is $48,250. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $53,388 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 $61,050 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,110 |
| This salary | $59,850 |
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 | $48,250 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,269 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,657 |
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 | $57,336 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,004 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 $59,850. The published range is $43,540 up to $81,110, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $48,250, from $59,850, 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 230 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,388, the adjusted value of that $59,850 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 230 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,540 to $81,110. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,250 from $59,850. 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 230 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $53,388 — the adjusted value of that $59,850 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 230 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $43,540 and the top tenth $81,110, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $53,388.
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, $48,250 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,540 to $81,110) 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 $53,388 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 $48,250 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.