What Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earn in Cass County, NE
According to the latest federal wage data for the Omaha, NE-IA metropolitan area, the median pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Cass County, NE is $42,550 a year, or $20.46 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $35,192 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Cass County, NE.
The mean wage is $42,850, which is 0.7% above the median, so pay is spread fairly evenly. The survey counts about 6,870 people working in this occupation across the Omaha, NE-IA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Cass County, NE has roughly 27,161 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in the Omaha, NE-IA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $33,360 a year ($16.04 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $53,160 or more ($25.56 an hour). That is a gap of $19,800 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $38,170 at the 25th percentile and $46,280 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $20.46 an hour or $42,550 a year at the median for Cass County, NE. Before any deductions, that is $3,546 a month, $1,637 every two weeks and $818 each week. After taxes the same job pays $16.92 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand this way: "Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Read work orders or receive oral instructions to determine work assignments or material or equipment needs"; "Move freight, stock, or other materials to and from storage or production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, or containers, by hand or using trucks, tractors, or other equipment"; "Maintain equipment storage areas to ensure that inventory is protected".
Job outlook for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 2,940,300 jobs in 2025 to 2,991,900 in 2035, a change of +1.8%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 340,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.6% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $40,240 for this occupation; the Cass County, NE median of $42,550 is 5.7% above it.
How pay in Cass County, NE compares
Compared with the Nebraska average
Pay in Cass County, NE runs $443 below the Nebraska average of $42,993, a gap of 1.0%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Nebraska would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Nebraska, Cass County, NE already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $41,056 across the contiguous United States. At $42,550, Cass County, NE pays $1,494 more, which is 3.6% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Cass County, NE
Among the 506 occupations with published wages in Cass County, NE, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand ranks number 410 by median pay, ahead of about 19% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is General and Operations Managers at $90,620 a year, which is $48,070 more than the median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earning the Cass County, NE median of $42,550, they add up to $7,358. The result is $35,192 of take-home pay a year ($2,933 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $26,800. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,978, an effective 7.0% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,638 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $617. FICA totals $3,255, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Nebraska
Nebraska income tax on this salary is $1,126 a year, or 2.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 38% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $94 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Cass County, NE
IRS Statistics of Income data for Cass County, NE show an average adjusted gross income of $91,075 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.2% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 7.0% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Cass County, NE
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Cass County, NE: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $35,192 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Cass County, NE, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,219 a month ($14,628 a year), and at $1,450 for two bedrooms. For Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, a one-bedroom absorbs 41.6% of take-home pay and 34.4% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 8.1% of gross pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Cass County, NE. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Nebraska residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,218 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $410, for $1,628 in total. Gasoline in Nebraska averages $3.21 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,485.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $21,177 a year in Cass County, NE. Subtract that from $35,192 of take-home pay and $14,015 remains, which is $1,168 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 32.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Cass County, NE
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Cass County, NE: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Cass County, NE, set beside the Nebraska and national medians.
Property taxes in Cass County, NE
Homeowners in Cass County, NE pay a median of $3,652 a year in real estate taxes, 3% above the Nebraska median of $3,549 and 17% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $254,900, the median tax bill is 1.43% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand median of $42,550, a tax bill of that size would equal 8.6% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Cass County, NE
Renters in Cass County, NE pay a median gross rent of $996 a month in the Census survey, 7% below the Nebraska median of $1,072. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,219 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $254,900, 7% above the Nebraska median of $238,600. Median household income is $91,836, 20% above the Nebraska median of $76,475, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 15.9% of that income.
Commuting in Cass County, NE
Workers in Cass County, NE who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.3 minutes each way, 47% above the Nebraska average of 19.2. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.7 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 12.3% of workers in Cass County, NE work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand afford to live in Cass County, NE?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $42,550 that ceiling is $1,064 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,219 is $155 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $23.44 an hour; the median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $20.46, which is 13% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $16.92 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 16.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,450 a month means $725 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,928 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $19,943.
How fast you can save
At $1,168 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 9 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 18 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand pay in Cass County, NE
How much do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand make per hour in Cass County, NE?
The median is $20.46 per hour, based on $42,550 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.04 at the 10th percentile to $25.56 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand take home after taxes in Cass County, NE?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $42,550 becomes $35,192 a year. That is $2,933 a month, $1,354 every two weeks or $677 a week.
How much tax do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand pay in Cass County, NE?
Total taxes are $7,358 a year, an effective rate of 17.3%: $2,978 federal income tax, $3,255 FICA and $1,126 Nebraska income tax.
Do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earn more in Cass County, NE than elsewhere in Nebraska?
No. The local median of $42,550 is -1.0% versus the Nebraska average of $42,993, a difference of $443 a year.
Can Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand afford a one-bedroom apartment in Cass County, NE?
A one-bedroom costs $1,219 a month against take-home pay of $2,933, which is 41.6% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,064 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Cass County, NE?
About $1,168 a month ($14,015 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,177 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Cass County, NE at the 30% guideline?
$23.44 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $14,628 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $20.46.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Omaha, NE-IA metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Nebraska rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.