Jobs and pay in Nebraska

The highest-paying occupations in Nebraska

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1 further occupation is paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes it only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: orthodontists. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Cardiologists$646,300
2. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$507,770
3. Emergency medicine physicians$371,880
4. Dermatologists$359,580
5. Obstetricians and gynecologists$342,570
6. Surgeons, all other$341,410
7. Anesthesiologists$334,210
8. Physicians, all other$290,470
9. Neurologists$269,270
10. Nurse anesthetists$246,730
11. Physicians, pathologists$229,140
12. Family medicine physicians$228,590
13. Dentists, all other specialists$224,990
14. General internal medicine physicians$221,360
15. Chief executives$214,680
16. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$208,180
17. Dentists, general$179,750
18. Pediatricians, general$175,990
19. Architectural and engineering managers$141,020
20. Financial managers$140,360
21. Pharmacists$139,330
22. Nurse midwives$138,880
23. Computer and information systems managers$135,780
24. Aerospace engineers$135,670
25. Psychiatrists$135,180

Where the jobs actually are in Nebraska

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers30,060 employed
2. Registered nurses24,720 employed
3. General and operations managers24,030 employed
4. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers23,160 employed
5. Retail salespersons22,780 employed
6. Cashiers20,650 employed
7. Stockers and order fillers17,980 employed
8. Nursing assistants16,450 employed
9. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive16,240 employed
10. Customer service representatives15,340 employed
11. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand13,870 employed
12. Home health and personal care aides13,660 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses13,310 employed
14. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners12,860 employed
15. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary11,190 employed
16. Accountants and auditors10,340 employed
17. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks10,050 employed
18. Office clerks, general10,000 employed
19. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers9,930 employed
20. Maintenance and repair workers, general9,850 employed
21. Childcare workers9,390 employed
22. Elementary school teachers, except special education8,710 employed
23. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products8,550 employed
24. Construction laborers8,530 employed
25. Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers8,340 employed

The best-paid Nebraska work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$117,690 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Air traffic controllers$111,710 · Associate's degree
3. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers$111,460 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Nuclear power reactor operators$108,650 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$106,100 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$104,850 · Postsecondary nondegree award
7. Commercial pilots$104,780 · Postsecondary nondegree award
8. Nuclear medicine technologists$104,320 · Associate's degree
9. Detectives and criminal investigators$100,530 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Radiation therapists$98,670 · Associate's degree
11. Power distributors and dispatchers$98,570 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Power plant operators$98,210 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$97,380 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Postmasters and mail superintendents$94,040 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Dental hygienists$92,580 · Associate's degree
16. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$92,150 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Media and communication equipment workers, all other$92,080 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$88,610 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Gas plant operators$87,790 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$82,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$82,710 · Associate's degree
22. Diagnostic medical sonographers$82,670 · Associate's degree
23. Respiratory therapists$81,590 · Associate's degree
24. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$80,810 · Postsecondary nondegree award
25. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$80,490 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Nebraska does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Nebraska employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Slaughterers and meat packers lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states