Special Education Teachers, Secondary 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
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Nebraska sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $63,460, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 176 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,460 you keep $50,986, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $56,416 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $66,090, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska occupies the middle band for special education teachers, secondary school: a median of $63,460, ranking 29 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 176 of 488 in Nebraska places special education teachers, secondary school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for special education teachers, secondary school on $63,460 is $50,986. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $56,416 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 $66,090 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,970 |
| 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 $47,970 up to $77,970, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $50,986 take-home in Nebraska comes from $63,460. 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 176 of 488.
- Two cautions on $56,416, the adjusted value of that $63,460 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Nebraska. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 176 of 488 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for special education teachers, secondary school in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,970 to $77,970. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $50,986, from $63,460, 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 176 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- This $56,416 adjusted figure, worked from $63,460, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 176 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 176 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 $66,090 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 $47,970 and the top tenth $77,970, so most people doing this work in Nebraska sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $56,416.
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, $50,986 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 $66,090. 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 ($47,970 to $77,970) 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.