Highway Maintenance Workers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,760
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$8,890
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,994
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
$48,650
Kept after tax
$39,760
Worth in national money
$43,994
State rank
28
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Nebraska pays highway maintenance workers around $48,650 at the midpoint, 28 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Nebraska reports figures for, this is number 313.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,650 the take-home is $39,760; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $43,994 would nationally. The average comes to $50,920, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For highway maintenance workers the Nebraska median is $48,650, ranking 28 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Nebraska's occupational distribution, highway maintenance workers sits at 313 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.
- Post-tax income for highway maintenance workers in Nebraska, on $48,650, is $39,760 — equivalent to $43,994 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 $50,920 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,060 |
| This salary | $48,650 |
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 | $39,760 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,270 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,524 |
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 | $46,771 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,843 |
| 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 highway maintenance workers in Nebraska earn under $48,650 and half over. The published range runs $42,310 at the tenth percentile to $60,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $39,760, from $48,650, 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 313 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,994 uses one figure for the whole of Nebraska. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 488 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 313.
- Figures are distribution medians for highway maintenance workers in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,310 to $60,060; 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.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,760 from $48,650. 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 313 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,994, worked from $48,650, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Nebraska address, on work sitting at 313 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 $50,920 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $42,310 and the top tenth $60,060, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $43,994 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, $39,760 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $50,920. 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 ($42,310 to $60,060) 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 $43,994 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 $39,760 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.