Retail Salespersons in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,023
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$4,847
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,901
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
$31,870
Kept after tax
$27,023
Worth in national money
$29,901
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nebraska pays retail salespersons a middle wage of $31,870, 36 of 51 states and about 10% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Nebraska this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, retail salespersons ranks 466. 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 $31,870 you keep $27,023, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $29,901 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $35,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska's $31,870 median for retail salespersons places it 36 of 51 states, about 10% 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.
- Against every occupation Nebraska reports, retail salespersons ranks 466 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 retail salespersons on $31,870 is $27,023. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $29,901 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 $35,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,380 |
| This salary | $31,870 |
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 | $27,023 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,788 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,305 |
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 | $30,918 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,578 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $31,870 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,080 and the ninetieth is $46,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Nebraska's $27,023, worked from $31,870. 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 466 of 488.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,901 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 466.
- The Nebraska median of $31,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,080 to $46,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Nebraska take-home of $27,023, on $31,870 for work ranking 466 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 466 of 488 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,901, worked from $31,870, 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 466 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 $35,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,080 at the tenth percentile, $46,380 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 $29,901.
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, $27,023 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $35,220. 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 ($28,080 to $46,380) 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 $29,901 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 $27,023 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.