Dental Assistant Salary in Nebraska: What Dental Assistants Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$43,590
Median (50th)
$46,660
75th percentile
$49,370
National median
$48,070
BLS OEWS (SOC 31-9091), May 2025
What does a dental assistant make in Nebraska?
The median dental assistant in Nebraska earns $46,660 a year ($22.43 an hour), which is $1,410 below the national median of $48,070, but less than in nearby Iowa ($48,430), Colorado ($48,340) and South Dakota ($47,900). The mean is $46,430.
That ranks 37th of the 49 states plus DC where BLS publishes a dental assistant median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Nebraska
The middle half of Nebraska dental assistants earn $43,590 to $49,370. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $37,810, $680 above the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $57,430, $4,820 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Nebraska
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Nebraska's 2024 price level at 90.1 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 9.9% below the national average, and housing (index 75.2) runs 24.8% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $46,660 median is worth about $51,790 — $3,720 above the national median of $48,070.
How many dental assistants work in Nebraska
BLS counts about 2,520 dental assistant jobs in Nebraska, 0.6% of the 387,790 nationwide, or 2.457 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dental assistants hold about the same share of local jobs as nationally (location quotient 0.99).
Dental Assistant Salary by City in Nebraska
Across the 3 Nebraska metro areas where BLS publishes a dental assistant median, pay runs from $46,910 in Grand Island to $48,440 in Lincoln, a spread of $1,530.
Who's hiring dental assistants in Nebraska now
DentistryHires has 13 open dental assistant listings in Nebraska from 10 employers, the most of them in Omaha (8).
5 post hourly pay, from $18 to $28 an hour; 1 posts a salary from $41,143 to $53,486 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dental Assistant Regulatory Context in Nebraska
Dental assistant practice in Nebraska is regulated by the Nebraska Board of Dentistry.
Scope of practice — what a dental assistant may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Nebraska Compares
Other dental salaries in Nebraska
- Dentist salary in Nebraska: median $179,750, $133,090 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Hygienist salary in Nebraska: median $92,580, $45,920 above the dental assistant median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Nebraska: median $58,590, $11,930 above the dental assistant median
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.