Nursing Assistants in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,204
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$6,796
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,739
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
$40,000
Kept after tax
$33,204
Worth in national money
$36,739
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 27 of 51 states for nursing assistants, with a middle wage of $40,000. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Nebraska this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, nursing assistants ranks 401. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $40,000 you keep $33,204, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,739 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska ranks 27 of 51 for nursing assistants at $40,000. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Nebraska reports, nursing assistants ranks 401 of 488, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for nursing assistants on $40,000 is $33,204. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,739 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 $42,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,980 |
| This salary | $40,000 |
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 | $33,204 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,320 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,422 |
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 | $38,611 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,719 |
| 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 nursing assistants in Nebraska earn under $40,000 and half over. The published range runs $37,090 at the tenth percentile to $48,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $33,204, worked from $40,000. 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 401 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,739 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 401.
- Figures are distribution medians for nursing assistants in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,090 to $48,980; 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.
- The Nebraska take-home of $33,204, on $40,000 for work ranking 401 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 401 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,739, worked from $40,000, 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 401 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 $42,390, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,090 and the top tenth $48,980, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $36,739 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $33,204 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $42,390. 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 ($37,090 to $48,980) 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 $36,739 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 $33,204 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.