Interpreters and Translators in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,095
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$9,955
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,685
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
$53,050
Kept after tax
$43,095
Worth in national money
$47,685
State rank
29
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 29 of 47 states for interpreters and translators, with a middle wage of $53,050. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Interpreters and translators ranks 267 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,050 you keep $43,095, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,685 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $58,940, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska ranks 29 of 47 for interpreters and translators at $53,050. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 267 of 488 in Nebraska places interpreters and translators 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 interpreters and translators on $53,050 is $43,095. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,685 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 $58,940 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Interpreters and Translators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,480 |
| This salary | $53,050 |
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 | $43,095 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,806 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,576 |
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 | $50,922 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,906 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,050 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,860 and the ninetieth is $87,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $43,095, worked from $53,050. 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 267 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,685, the adjusted value of that $53,050 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 267 of 488 in the state.
- The Nebraska median of $53,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,860 to $87,480. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Nebraska take-home of $43,095, on $53,050 for work ranking 267 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 267 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $47,685 — the adjusted value of that $53,050 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 267 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 $58,940, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $41,860 and the top tenth $87,480 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $47,685 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 $43,095.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $58,940. 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 ($41,860) and the ninetieth ($87,480) 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 $47,685 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 $43,095 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.