Nebraska

Across all occupations in Nebraska, the median wage is $48,980 a year ($23.55 an hour) and the mean $62,400, May 2025. That median is −4% against the US median of $50,980. BLS counts 1,024,370 jobs in the state. The highest-paying occupation is cardiologists; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Nebraska vs the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in Nebraska and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
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; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

Minimum wage in Nebraska

The wage floor is a separate question from these survey figures. See the Nebraska minimum wage page for the current rate, scheduled increases and tipped rules, verified against the U.S. Department of Labor.

20 highest-paying occupations in Nebraska

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Cardiologists	$646,300	$310.72	170
2	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$507,770	$244.12	200
3	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$371,880	$178.79	390
4	Dermatologists	$359,580	$172.88	**
5	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$342,570	$164.70	180
6	Surgeons, All Other	$341,410	$164.14	180
7	Anesthesiologists	$334,210	$160.68	260
8	Physicians, All Other	$290,470	$139.65	1,170
9	Neurologists	$269,270	$129.46	80
10	Nurse Anesthetists	$246,730	$118.62	430
11	Physicians, Pathologists	$229,140	$110.16	90
12	Family Medicine Physicians	$228,590	$109.90	830
13	Dentists, All Other Specialists	$224,990	$108.17	**
14	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$221,360	$106.42	900
15	Chief Executives	$214,680	$103.21	2,510
16	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates	$208,180	$100.09	160
17	Dentists, General	$179,750	$86.42	790
18	Pediatricians, General	$175,990	$84.61	290
19	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$141,020	$67.80	1,510
20	Financial Managers	$140,360	$67.48	5,630

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

20 largest occupations in Nebraska

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers	30,060	29.34	$29,000
2	Registered Nurses	24,720	24.14	$84,730
3	General and Operations Managers	24,030	23.46	$85,090
4	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers	23,160	22.61	$58,390
5	Retail Salespersons	22,780	22.24	$31,870
6	Cashiers	20,650	20.16	$30,250
7	Stockers and Order Fillers	17,980	17.55	$35,920
8	Nursing Assistants	16,450	16.06	$40,000
9	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive	16,240	15.85	$46,760
10	Customer Service Representatives	15,340	14.98	$43,940
11	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand	13,870	13.54	$42,910
12	Home Health and Personal Care Aides	13,660	13.34	$36,150
13	Waiters and Waitresses	13,310	13.00	$33,770
14	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners	12,860	12.55	$35,900
15	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary	11,190	10.92	$35,160
16	Accountants and Auditors	10,340	10.09	$72,080
17	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	10,050	9.82	$47,110
18	Office Clerks, General	10,000	9.76	$37,820
19	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers	9,930	9.69	$61,980
20	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General	9,850	9.61	$50,700

Occupation groups in Nebraska

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000
Management	$104,510	$121,660	75,700	73.90
Computer and Mathematical	$87,030	$93,780	31,220	30.48
Legal	$84,620	$108,210	5,950	5.81
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$82,080	$102,670	68,630	67.00
Architecture and Engineering	$81,040	$89,070	13,200	12.88
Business and Financial Operations	$71,850	$78,530	58,830	57.43
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$66,950	$75,570	9,410	9.19
Protective Service	$60,590	$60,380	17,320	16.91
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,190	$61,140	61,960	60.49
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$58,980	$61,400	45,150	44.08
Construction and Extraction	$53,800	$58,440	50,780	49.58
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$51,020	$58,950	10,790	10.53
Community and Social Service	$50,940	$57,450	14,960	14.60
Production	$48,000	$51,430	73,420	71.68
Office and Administrative Support	$45,850	$48,070	117,500	114.70
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$45,560	$47,260	2,960	2.89
Transportation and Material Moving	$44,550	$49,210	91,480	89.30
Healthcare Support	$38,760	$41,440	41,110	40.14
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,100	$39,660	29,800	29.10
Sales and Related	$36,810	$50,330	88,210	86.11
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$31,860	$35,170	90,900	88.74
Personal Care and Service	$31,840	$37,060	25,060	24.46

Metropolitan areas in Nebraska

4 metropolitan areas touch Nebraska, plus 3 nonmetropolitan areas, with the all-occupations median of each. A linked metropolitan area has its own profile; nonmetropolitan areas appear here only.

Area	Type	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
Grand Island, NE	Metropolitan	$49,410	$23.75	39,520
Lincoln, NE	Metropolitan	$49,800	$23.94	182,620
Omaha, NE-IA	Metropolitan	$49,660	$23.88	498,100
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	Metropolitan	$47,030	$22.61	75,010
Northwest Nebraska nonmetropolitan area	Nonmetropolitan	$45,120	$21.69	39,140
Northeast Nebraska nonmetropolitan area	Nonmetropolitan	$47,230	$22.71	95,890
South Nebraska nonmetropolitan area	Nonmetropolitan	$46,490	$22.35	155,110

Occupation pages for Nebraska

62 occupations have a dedicated Nebraska page with the state's percentiles, its metro table and a comparison with neighbouring states.

Accountants and Auditors $72,080
Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics $50,560
Bartenders $30,180
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks $47,110
Business Operations Specialists, All Other $77,980
Carpenters $50,320
Cashiers $30,250
Computer and Information Systems Managers $135,780
Computer User Support Specialists $60,830
Construction Laborers $47,260
Cooks, Fast Food $30,430
Cooks, Restaurant $37,030
Customer Service Representatives $43,940
Electricians $60,820
Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education $62,380
Fast Food and Counter Workers $29,000
Financial Managers $140,360
First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers $75,570
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers $39,230
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers $61,980
First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers $72,200
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers $45,280
First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors $60,630
Food Preparation Workers $35,210
General and Operations Managers $85,090
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers $58,390
Home Health and Personal Care Aides $36,150
Human Resources Specialists $61,930
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators $46,730
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners $35,900
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand $42,910
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers $39,140
Lawyers $109,170
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses $62,660
Light Truck Drivers $44,120
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners $34,170
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General $50,700
Management Analysts $75,360
Managers, All Other $116,430
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists $60,000
Medical Assistants $47,370
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants $46,100
Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education $62,510
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators $45,470
Nursing Assistants $40,000
Office Clerks, General $37,820
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers $74,620
Project Management Specialists $80,150
Receptionists and Information Clerks $37,860
Registered Nurses $84,730
Retail Salespersons $31,870
Sales Managers $126,990
Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel $57,770
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products $64,030
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education $63,450
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive $46,760
Security Guards $39,840
Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks $44,110
Software Developers $110,900
Stockers and Order Fillers $35,920
Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary $35,160
Waiters and Waitresses $33,770

Take-home pay and benefits calculators for Nebraska

FastCalc, a sister site, has these calculators for Nebraska. Each takes your own figures; this site computes nothing.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Nebraska estimates.

*: 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 Nebraska.