Security Guards in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,082
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$6,758
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,605
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
$39,840
Kept after tax
$33,082
Worth in national money
$36,605
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Nebraska pays security guards around $39,840 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Measured against other jobs in Nebraska, this one sits low: 403 of 488 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Nebraska is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,840 the take-home is $33,082; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,605 would nationally. The average comes to $45,000, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For security guards the Nebraska median is $39,840, ranking 18 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Security guards occupies position 403 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.
- Post-tax income for security guards in Nebraska, on $39,840, is $33,082 — equivalent to $36,605 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $45,000 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,310 |
| This salary | $39,840 |
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 | $33,082 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,191 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,420 |
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 | $38,460 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,717 |
| 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 $39,840. The published range is $34,020 up to $70,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $33,082 take-home in Nebraska comes from $39,840. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 403 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,605, the adjusted value of that $39,840 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 403 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for security guards in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,020 to $70,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $33,082, from $39,840, assumes a single Nebraska filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 403 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $36,605 — the adjusted value of that $39,840 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 403 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 $45,000 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $34,020, the highest tenth $70,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $36,605 in national terms.
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 $33,082.
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 $45,000. 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 ($34,020) and the ninetieth ($70,310) 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 $36,605 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 $33,082 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.