Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,100
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$12,830
19.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,649
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
$64,930
Kept after tax
$52,100
Worth in national money
$57,649
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Nebraska pays this job a middle wage of $64,930, 38 of 51 states and about 17.41% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 161 among 488 occupations Nebraska publishes pay for.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,930 you keep $52,100, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $57,649 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $67,060, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska's $64,930 median for stationary engineers and boiler operators places it 38 of 51 states, about 17.41% 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.
- Position 161 of 488 in Nebraska places stationary engineers and boiler operators 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 stationary engineers and boiler operators on $64,930 is $52,100. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $57,649 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 $67,060 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,400 |
| This salary | $64,930 |
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 | $52,100 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,351 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,717 |
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 | $62,129 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,149 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $64,930 as a midpoint for Nebraska, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,470 and the ninetieth is $86,400 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $52,100, from $64,930, 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 161 of 488 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $57,649, the adjusted value of that $64,930 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 161 of 488 locally.
- The Nebraska median of $64,930 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,470 to $86,400. 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 $52,100 from $64,930. 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 161 of 488 locally.
- This $57,649 adjusted figure, worked from $64,930, 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 161 of 488 in the state. The occupation ranks 161 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $67,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,470 and the top tenth $86,400, 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 $57,649 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 $52,100.
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 $67,060. 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 ($46,470 to $86,400) 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 $57,649 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 $52,100 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.