Lincoln, NE

Across all occupations in the Lincoln, NE metropolitan area, the median wage is $49,800 a year ($23.94 an hour) and the mean $62,980, May 2025. That median is −2% against the US median of $50,980 and +2% against Nebraska's $48,980. BLS counts 182,620 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is general internal medicine physicians; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Lincoln, NE vs Nebraska and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Lincoln, NE area, Nebraska and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Lincoln, NE	Hourly	$14.45	$17.93	$23.94	$36.70	$49.55	$30.28	182,620
Lincoln, NE	Annual	$30,050	$37,290	$49,800	$76,340	$103,050	$62,980	182,620
Nebraska	Hourly	$14.48	$17.97	$23.55	$35.50	$49.57	$30.00	1,024,370
Nebraska	Annual	$30,120	$37,370	$48,980	$73,830	$103,110	$62,400	1,024,370
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

444 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Nebraska. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Lincoln, NE

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$369,980	$177.88	30
2	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$365,830	$175.88	40
3	Physicians, All Other	$326,620	$157.03	170
4	Chief Executives	$217,780	$104.70	460
5	Nurse Anesthetists	$216,030	$103.86	**
6	Family Medicine Physicians	$209,990	$100.96	180
7	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$208,180	$100.09	40
8	Dentists, General	$204,530	$98.33	160
9	Pharmacists	$149,590	$71.92	370
10	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$139,670	$67.15	370
11	Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary	$131,180	*	90
12	Financial Managers in Nebraska	$131,150	$63.05	1,010
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Nebraska	$130,340	$62.66	1,110
14	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary	$128,750	*	50
15	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$128,640	*	210
16	Physician Assistants	$128,050	$61.56	290
17	Optometrists	$126,510	$60.82	70
18	Nurse Practitioners	$124,440	$59.83	320
19	Human Resources Managers	$123,830	$59.54	300
20	Natural Sciences Managers	$122,670	$58.98	160

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Lincoln, NE

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Nebraska	5,950	32.59	1.31	$28,510
2	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Nebraska	4,530	24.78	1.87	$81,790
3	Registered Nurses in Nebraska	4,200	23.02	1.06	$87,530
4	Retail Salespersons in Nebraska	4,080	22.34	0.89	$30,990
5	General and Operations Managers in Nebraska	3,680	20.15	0.89	$92,780
6	Cashiers in Nebraska	3,240	17.73	0.89	$30,690
7	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Nebraska	2,890	15.82	1.44	$47,230
8	Nursing Assistants in Nebraska	2,630	14.40	1.55	$38,650
9	Stockers and Order Fillers in Nebraska	2,620	14.34	0.79	$35,820
10	Customer Service Representatives in Nebraska	2,540	13.93	0.83	$41,430
11	Waiters and Waitresses in Nebraska	2,520	13.80	0.95	$36,080
12	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Nebraska	2,420	13.24	0.48	$35,500
13	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Nebraska	2,260	12.38	0.87	$36,730
14	Accountants and Auditors in Nebraska	2,130	11.69	1.25	$65,170
15	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Nebraska	2,070	11.36	1.26	$40,100
16	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Nebraska	1,980	10.87	0.57	$40,450
17	Office Clerks, General in Nebraska	1,930	10.60	0.67	$37,550
18	Childcare Workers	1,920	10.50	3.15	$29,860
19	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in Nebraska	1,850	10.11	1.09	$61,590
20	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Nebraska	1,660	9.08	1.03	$47,930

Most concentrated occupations in Lincoln, NE

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Animal Scientists	26.44	100	0.53	$79,410
2	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary	13.11	140	0.75	$98,160
3	Agricultural Inspectors	6.56	110	0.61	$47,400
4	Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	5.37	200	1.12	$48,040
5	Soil and Plant Scientists	5.23	100	0.53	$63,760
6	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary	4.38	210	1.14	$101,350
7	Biological Technicians	4.21	340	1.89	*
8	Advertising Sales Agents	4.16	450	2.45	*
9	New Accounts Clerks	3.89	170	0.92	$46,110
10	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	3.75	220	1.21	$98,950

Occupation groups in Lincoln, NE

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$104,990	$122,070	13,630	74.66	1.04
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$85,660	$101,370	11,560	63.30	1.00
Computer and Mathematical	$80,930	$87,520	6,560	35.90	1.06
Architecture and Engineering	$80,230	$87,650	2,980	16.31	0.97
Legal	$80,000	$96,670	1,480	8.09	0.96
Business and Financial Operations	$69,240	$76,160	12,110	66.31	0.98
Protective Service	$64,000	$64,590	3,280	17.95	0.74
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$62,470	$71,280	2,500	13.71	1.45
Educational Instruction and Library	$61,960	$67,490	10,930	59.83	1.02
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$58,300	$60,350	7,030	38.50	0.98
Construction and Extraction	$53,340	$57,580	8,070	44.17	1.07
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$53,260	$60,580	2,530	13.88	1.05
Community and Social Service	$50,390	$58,430	3,460	18.95	1.10
Production	$48,000	$52,190	11,070	60.61	1.10
Transportation and Material Moving	$45,590	$52,730	14,200	77.76	0.88
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$45,280	$46,190	310	1.72	0.62
Office and Administrative Support	$45,180	$47,630	20,970	114.86	1.01
Healthcare Support	$38,290	$41,030	7,290	39.93	0.79
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,240	$39,200	4,960	27.17	0.93
Sales and Related	$36,700	$50,770	14,660	80.27	0.93
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$31,200	$35,160	17,370	95.13	1.08
Personal Care and Service	$30,530	$35,980	5,660	30.99	1.48

Every occupation in Nebraska, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 444 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Lincoln, NE estimates (area 30700).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Lincoln, NE area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.