Mechanical Drafters in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,250
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$11,920
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,495
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
$61,170
Kept after tax
$49,250
Worth in national money
$54,495
State rank
38
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nebraska pays mechanical drafters a middle wage of $61,170, 38 of 47 states and about 14.51% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Mechanical drafters ranks 210 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,170 the take-home is $49,250; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,495 would nationally. The average comes to $64,230, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Nebraska's $61,170 median for mechanical drafters places it 38 of 47 states, about 14.51% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 210 of 488 in Nebraska places mechanical drafters 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.
- Post-tax income for mechanical drafters in Nebraska, on $61,170, is $49,250 — equivalent to $54,495 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 $64,230 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $92,160 |
| This salary | $61,170 |
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 | $49,250 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,330 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,673 |
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 | $58,582 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,023 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $61,170 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,150 and the ninetieth is $92,160 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $49,250 take-home in Nebraska comes from $61,170. 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 210 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,495 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 210.
- The Nebraska median of $61,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,150 to $92,160. 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 $49,250, from $61,170, 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 210 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,495, worked from $61,170, 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 210 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 $64,230, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,150 and the top tenth $92,160 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $54,495.
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 $49,250.
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 $64,230. 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 ($43,150) and the ninetieth ($92,160) 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 $54,495 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 $49,250 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.
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.