Nebraska Paycheck & Income Tax Calculator

How Nebraska income tax works

Nebraska charges 2.46% on the first $4,130 of taxable income for a single filer, 3.51% to $24,760, and 4.55% on everything above. Filing jointly, the two break points are $8,250 and $49,530.

The statute actually still lists four brackets. For 2026 it sets both the third and fourth rates to 4.55% — the third falling from 5.01% and the fourth from 5.20% — so the top two charge the same rate and there is no practical boundary between them. This page shows three bands because that is what you pay; the arithmetic is identical either way.

Before the rates apply, a single filer subtracts a $8,850 standard deduction. Then, at the other end, a $176 personal exemption credit comes off the tax itself.

On $75,000 that leaves $66,150 of Nebraska taxable income and $2,708.96 of tax, less the $176 credit — about $2,533 for the year, an effective state rate of roughly 3.4%.

There is no local income tax anywhere in Nebraska and no employee-side payroll levy, so these figures need nothing added.

A rate cut every year since 2022

Few states have moved as steadily as Nebraska, and the pace is why older figures for it are almost always wrong. The top rate has come down at every step:

That is a fall of nearly three percentage points in five years, set out in advance by LB 754 rather than triggered by revenue performance — so unlike Oklahoma or South Carolina, where cuts depend on collections, Nebraska’s timetable is fixed and already in statute.

The 2026 step is worth having. Holding Nebraska taxable income at the $66,150 a single filer on $75,000 reaches, the 2025 schedule charged $2,961.83 and the 2026 one charges $2,708.96 — a saving of $252.87. The 2027 step will take the same income to $2,477.17.

What makes 2026 unusual is that two brackets converged rather than one rate falling. The third rate dropped further than the fourth, from 5.01% to 4.55% against 5.20% to 4.55%, which is how a four-bracket schedule ended up with three rates.

Anything quoting Nebraska at 6.84%, 5.84% or 5.20% is describing an earlier year.

The joint thresholds are not double

This is a small detail that is worth checking any Nebraska figure against, because it is the easiest thing to get wrong and almost everyone does.

Nebraska indexes its bracket thresholds every year, and it indexes each filing status separately. The published 2026 figures are:

Double the single figures and you get $8,260 and $49,520. Both are wrong — the first by $10 too high, the second by $10 too low. They are wrong in opposite directions, which is a good sign they come from rounding rather than from any deliberate rule.

The amounts involved are trivial, a dollar or two of tax at most. What matters is what it tells you about a source: a calculator or table that derives Nebraska’s joint brackets by doubling has not looked at the department’s published figures at all, and may well be estimating elsewhere too. The figures on this page are taken from the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s own rate chronology, which prints all four statuses separately.

Take-home pay at every salary in Nebraska

After federal tax, Nebraska state tax and FICA, with the $176 exemption credit applied. With no local income tax and no state payroll levy, these figures hold anywhere in Nebraska — Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island and Kearney alike.

What lands in your account each payday

On $75,000 a year in Nebraska, filing single, split across the pay schedules employers actually use.

The exemption is a credit, not a deduction

Nebraska handles its personal exemption the way California does and most states do not, and the distinction changes who benefits.

A personal exemption is usually a deduction — an amount taken off income before the rate applies. A $176 deduction would be worth $176 times your marginal rate: about $8 to a Nebraskan in the 4.55% band, and less to someone in the 2.46% band.

Nebraska instead gives a credit of $176 per exemption, subtracted from the tax itself. It is worth $176 to everyone, which is more than twenty times what the same figure would deliver as a deduction, and proportionally most to whoever owes least.

The credit is allowed per exemption, so a couple filing jointly claims $352 and each dependent adds another $176. The calculator above assumes a single exemption and no dependents.

Dates that matter for the 2026 tax year

Nebraska returns (Form 1040N) are due April 15, 2027, matching the federal deadline. Estimated payments, if required, fall quarterly in April, June, September and the following January.

The rates and thresholds on this page apply to income earned between January 1 and December 31, 2026, and are taken from the Department of Revenue’s tax rate chronology. The next scheduled change is the drop to 3.99% for tax year 2027.

Questions people ask

What are the Nebraska income tax rates for 2026?

Three effective rates. For a single filer, 2.46% on the first $4,130 of taxable income, 3.51% to $24,760, and 4.55% above that. Filing jointly the thresholds are $8,250 and $49,530. The top rate fell from 5.20% on January 1, 2026.

Why do some sources list four Nebraska brackets?

Because the statute still has four. For 2026 it sets both the third and fourth rates to 4.55%, down from 5.01% and 5.20%, so the top two brackets charge the same rate and behave as one. The figures are identical either way.

What can I deduct in Nebraska?

The standard deduction is $8,850 for a single filer and $17,700 filing jointly for 2026. There is no separate personal exemption deduction — Nebraska gives a $176 credit instead.

Are the Nebraska joint brackets double the single ones?

Almost, but not exactly, and the difference is real. The single thresholds are $4,130 and $24,760; the joint ones are $8,250 and $49,530, not $8,260 and $49,520. Each is indexed and rounded independently, so doubling the single figures gives the wrong answer.

Is Nebraska still cutting its income tax?

Yes. Both of the top two rates fall again to 3.99% for tax years beginning in 2027, under the schedule set by LB 754. The top rate was 6.84% as recently as 2022.

Does any Nebraska city charge a local income tax?

No. No Nebraska city or county levies an income tax, so where you live in the state does not change your income tax bill.

Are Nebraska payroll deductions taken from my paycheck?

Not by the state. Nebraska unemployment insurance is employer-funded and the state runs no disability or paid family leave program. Beyond the state income tax, the only deductions are federal.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. There is no account, and the salary you type is never sent to a server or stored. It never leaves your device.