Special Education Teachers, Middle School in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,986
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$12,474
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,416
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
$63,460
Kept after tax
$50,986
Worth in national money
$56,416
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 28 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $63,460. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 488 occupations Nebraska reports figures for, this is number 175.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,460 you keep $50,986 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,416 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 28 of 51 for special education teachers, middle school at $63,460. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Nebraska's occupational distribution, special education teachers, middle school sits at 175 of 488 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $50,986 after the full tax stack, from $63,460. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,416 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Special Education Teachers, Middle School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,990 |
| This salary | $63,460 |
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 | $50,986 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,170 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,700 |
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 | $60,742 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,056 |
| 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 $63,460. The published range is $46,640 up to $78,990, 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 $50,986, worked from $63,460. 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 175 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,416, the adjusted value of that $63,460 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 175 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, middle school in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,640 to $78,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Nebraska take-home of $50,986, on $63,460 for work ranking 175 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 175 of 488 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $56,416 — the adjusted value of that $63,460 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 175 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 $65,740, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,640 and the top tenth $78,990, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $56,416 in national terms.
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 $50,986 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 $65,740. 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 ($46,640 to $78,990) 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 $56,416 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 $50,986 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.