Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,372
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$20,008
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,439
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
$86,380
Kept after tax
$66,372
Worth in national money
$73,439
State rank
24
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $86,380, ranking 24 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Nebraska. It ranks 79 out of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $86,380 you keep $66,372 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $73,439 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $92,430, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska occupies the middle band for political science teachers, postsecondary: a median of $86,380, ranking 24 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Nebraska, political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 79 of 488 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $66,372 after the full tax stack, from $86,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,439 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $92,430 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,370 |
| This salary | $86,380 |
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 | $66,372 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,598 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,818 |
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 | $81,793 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,511 |
| 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 $86,380. The published range is $58,490 up to $125,370, 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 $66,372, worked from $86,380. 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 79 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $73,439 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 79.
- Reported values are medians; for political science teachers, postsecondary in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $58,490 to $125,370. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Nebraska take-home of $66,372, on $86,380 for work ranking 79 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 79 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $73,439, worked from $86,380, 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 79 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $92,430 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $58,490 and the top tenth $125,370 — 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 $73,439 in national terms.
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, $66,372 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $92,430. 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 ($58,490) and the ninetieth ($125,370) 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 $73,439 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 $66,372 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.