School Psychologists in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,082
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$20,898
23.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,332
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
$88,980
Kept after tax
$68,082
Worth in national money
$75,332
State rank
19
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 19 of 51 states for school psychologists, with a middle wage of $88,980. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 488 occupations Nebraska reports, school psychologists comes in at 74 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $88,980 you keep $68,082, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $75,332 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $92,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska ranks 19 of 51 for school psychologists at $88,980. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- School psychologists ranks 74 of 488 occupations by median in Nebraska, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for school psychologists on $88,980 is $68,082. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $75,332 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 $92,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,050 |
| This salary | $88,980 |
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 | $68,082 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,828 |
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 | $84,225 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,526 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $88,980 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,420 and the ninetieth is $125,050 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $68,082, from $88,980, 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 74 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $75,332, the adjusted value of that $88,980 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 74 of 488 in the state.
- The Nebraska median of $88,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,420 to $125,050. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $68,082 from $88,980. 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 74 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $75,332 — the adjusted value of that $88,980 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 74 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 $92,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $66,420 and the top tenth $125,050, 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 $75,332 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $68,082.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $92,260. 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 ($66,420 to $125,050) 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 $75,332 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 $68,082 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.