Light Truck Drivers in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,327
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$7,794
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,195
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
$44,120
Kept after tax
$36,327
Worth in national money
$40,195
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska sits in the middle of the pack for light truck drivers. The median is $44,120, ranking 28 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Nebraska, this one sits low: 378 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $44,120 the take-home is $36,327; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $40,195 would nationally. The average comes to $48,720, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Nebraska occupies the middle band for light truck drivers: a median of $44,120, ranking 28 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Light truck drivers occupies position 378 of 488 in Nebraska's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for light truck drivers in Nebraska, on $44,120, is $36,327 — equivalent to $40,195 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 $48,720 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Light Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,370 |
| This salary | $44,120 |
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 | $36,327 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,630 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,470 |
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 | $42,497 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,778 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,120 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,710 and the ninetieth is $92,370 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,327 take-home in Nebraska comes from $44,120. 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 378 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,195 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 378.
- The Nebraska median of $44,120 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,710 to $92,370. 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 $36,327, from $44,120, 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 378 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,195, worked from $44,120, 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 378 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 $48,720, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $29,710, the highest tenth $92,370, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Nebraska sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $40,195 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $36,327.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $48,720. 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 ($29,710) and the ninetieth ($92,370) 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 $40,195 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 $36,327 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.