Surgical Technologists in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,305
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$12,575
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,768
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
$63,880
Kept after tax
$51,305
Worth in national money
$56,768
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 25 of 51 states for surgical technologists, with a middle wage of $63,880. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Nebraska, this sits in the middle: 172 of 488 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Nebraska does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,880 you keep $51,305, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $56,768 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,290, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Nebraska ranks 25 of 51 for surgical technologists at $63,880. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Surgical technologists ranks 172 of 488 occupations in Nebraska by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Nebraska income tax, retained pay for surgical technologists on $63,880 is $51,305. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $56,768 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 $65,290 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: Surgical Technologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,350 |
| This salary | $63,880 |
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 | $51,305 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,508 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,705 |
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 | $61,138 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,062 |
| 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 $63,880. The published range is $49,870 up to $79,350, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $51,305 take-home in Nebraska comes from $63,880. 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 172 of 488.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $56,768, the adjusted value of that $63,880 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 172 of 488 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for surgical technologists in Nebraska the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,870 to $79,350. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $51,305, from $63,880, 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 172 of 488 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $56,768 — the adjusted value of that $63,880 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 172 of 488 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $49,870 at the bottom tenth to $79,350 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $56,768 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 $51,305 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,870 to $79,350) 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 $56,768 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 $51,305 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.