Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Nebraska
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,938
after federal, FICA and Nebraska tax
Tax takes
$6,712
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,446
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
$39,650
Kept after tax
$32,938
Worth in national money
$36,446
State rank
29
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Nebraska is 29 of 45 states for this job, with a middle wage of $39,650. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Nebraska this is lower-paid work. Of 488 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 406. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,650 you keep $32,938 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,446 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- Nebraska ranks 29 of 45 for teaching assistants, postsecondary at $39,650. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Nebraska reports, teaching assistants, postsecondary ranks 406 of 488, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Nebraska is $32,938 after the full tax stack, from $39,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,446 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,450 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: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,680 |
| This salary | $39,650 |
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 | $32,938 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,039 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,417 |
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 | $38,280 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,714 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of teaching assistants, postsecondary in Nebraska earn under $39,650 and half over. The published range runs $28,080 at the tenth percentile to $69,680 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Nebraska the take-home figure of $32,938, from $39,650, 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 406 of 488 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Nebraska, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,446, the adjusted value of that $39,650 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 406 of 488 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Nebraska, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,080 to $69,680; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Nebraska is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,938 from $39,650. 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 406 of 488 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Nebraska, so $36,446 — the adjusted value of that $39,650 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 406 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 $44,450, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $28,080 at the bottom tenth to $69,680 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Nebraska sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $36,446 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $32,938.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $44,450. 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 ($28,080) and the ninetieth ($69,680) 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 $36,446 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 $32,938 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.