The highest paying job in Nebraska is Nurse Anesthetists, with a median salary of $231,020 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in NE based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse Anesthetists | $231,020 | $224,900 | 290 |
| 2 | Psychiatrists | $229,240 | $218,120 | N/A |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $206,080 | $240,320 | 2,790 |
| 4 | Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates | $196,390 | $188,500 | 160 |
| 5 | Pediatricians, General | $186,680 | $217,040 | 410 |
| 6 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $178,620 | $201,330 | 740 |
| 7 | Dentists, General | $168,110 | $185,360 | 740 |
| 8 | Nuclear Engineers | $149,280 | $145,680 | N/A |
| 9 | Psychologists, All Other | $137,990 | $125,420 | 50 |
| 10 | Financial Manager | $134,410 | $151,460 | 5,480 |
| 11 | Postsecondary Teachers, All Other | $134,170 | $138,280 | 660 |
| 12 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $134,090 | $141,210 | 1,450 |
| 13 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $133,950 | $143,530 | 4,630 |
| 14 | Nurse Midwives | $133,890 | $132,680 | N/A |
| 15 | Pharmacist | $133,340 | $127,300 | 2,290 |
| 16 | Database Architects | $132,320 | $129,750 | 590 |
| 17 | Physician Assistants | $128,240 | $129,120 | 1,250 |
| 18 | Nurse Practitioners | $127,930 | $127,950 | 2,150 |
| 19 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $125,920 | $118,520 | 90 |
| 20 | Human Resources Manager | $124,990 | $135,160 | 1,540 |
| 21 | Sales Manager | $124,440 | $140,800 | 2,980 |
| 22 | Purchasing Managers | $121,290 | $125,970 | 450 |
| 23 | Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | $120,640 | $127,280 | 30 |
| 24 | Optometrists | $116,850 | $136,810 | 370 |
| 25 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $116,600 | $117,740 | 30 |
Average Salary in Nebraska · All Nebraska Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Nebraska are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Nurse Anesthetists, pays $166,123 more than the state average of $64,896 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $116,600, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Nebraska's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.