Massage Therapists in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,778
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$10,172
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,439
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
$53,950
Kept after tax
$43,778
Worth in national money
$48,439
State rank
34
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska is among the lower-paying states for massage therapists. The middle earner takes $53,950, ranking 34 of 50 states — about 7.7% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Massage therapists ranks 264 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $53,950 you keep $43,778 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $48,439 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 34 of 50 for massage therapists, with a median of $53,950 — about 7.7% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 264 of 488 in Nebraska places massage therapists 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.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $43,778 after the full tax stack, from $53,950. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,439 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,390 |
| This salary | $53,950 |
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 | $43,778 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,529 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,587 |
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 | $51,771 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,919 |
| 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 $53,950. The published range is $47,360 up to $93,390, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $43,778, worked from $53,950. 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 264 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,439 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 264.
- Reported values are medians; for massage therapists in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,360 to $93,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Nebraska take-home of $43,778, on $53,950 for work ranking 264 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 264 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,439, worked from $53,950, 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 264 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,020, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $47,360 at the bottom tenth to $93,390 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $48,439 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 $43,778.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $63,020. 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 ($47,360) and the ninetieth ($93,390) 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 $48,439 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 $43,778 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.