Printing Press Operators in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,773
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$7,297
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,475
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
$42,070
Kept after tax
$34,773
Worth in national money
$38,475
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska is among the lower-paying states for printing press operators. The middle earner takes $42,070, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 8.1% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Nebraska, this one sits low: 391 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $42,070 you keep $34,773 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,475 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,860, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 36 of 51 for printing press operators, with a median of $42,070 — about 8.1% 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.
- Printing press operators occupies position 391 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.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $34,773 after the full tax stack, from $42,070. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,475 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,860 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Printing Press Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,190 |
| This salary | $42,070 |
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 | $34,773 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,983 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,446 |
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 | $40,563 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,749 |
| 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 $42,070. The published range is $36,670 up to $59,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $34,773, from $42,070, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 391 of 488 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,475 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 391.
- Reported values are medians; for printing press operators in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,670 to $59,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,773 from $42,070. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 391 of 488 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,475, worked from $42,070, 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 391 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 $44,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,670 at the tenth percentile, $59,190 at the ninetieth.
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 $38,475.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Nebraska adds its own income tax on top — which is why $34,773 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $44,860. 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 ($36,670 to $59,190) 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 $38,475 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 $34,773 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.