Legal Secretary Salary in Grand Island, NE: Median $76,066 in 2026
Grand Island (NE) · COL index 84 · Unemployment 3.0% · Metro pop 75,000 · Rank #262 of 283 for Legal Secretary salary
A Legal Secretary in Grand Island earns an estimated median of $76,066 per year. That figure starts from the Nebraska state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($81,760) and scales it by Grand Island's composite cost-of-living index of 84 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $42,703; the 90th percentile reaches $170,767. After federal, Nebraska state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Legal Secretary takes home approximately $59,034/year — about $4,919/month or $2,271 every other week.
Compared to the national Legal Secretary median of $52,000, Grand Island pays +46.3%. Relative to the Grand Island median household income of $52,500, a Legal Secretarysalary runs +44.9%. Local unemployment is 3.0%[3], with an estimated 6 annual Legal Secretary openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (164,900).
Legal Secretary Snapshot — Grand Island (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Grand Island | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal Secretary median salary | $76,066 | $52,000 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $42,703 | $38,800 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $170,767 | $86,500 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $59,034 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $253,724 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,279/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,175/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $67,397 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 84.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 3.0% | — | [3] |
How Legal Secretary Salaries Work in Grand Island
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Nebraska state-level OEWS median ($81,760) and scaling by Grand Island's composite cost-of-living index (84)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Nebraska state income tax at a 4.0% effective rate ($3,030/yr on the $76,066 median)[10].
Grand Island also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $67,397, which frames what "a good Legal Secretary salary" means locally: a $$76,066 wage pays about 113% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Legal Secretary Salary & Cost-of-Living Context — Grand Island
Buy vs rent in Grand Island
Monthly PITI on the $253,724 median home in Grand Island is ~$2,006/mo — vs a $1,279/mo median rent. Rent burden on median household income is 22.8%, which falls within the recommended 30% guideline for housing costs.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Grand Island
Estimated annual expense shares on a $59,034 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Grand Island's COL index of 84. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Grand Island's COL index of 84[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $825/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Grand Island
Renting
Buying
At $4,919/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,476/mo. Grand Island's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,279/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,175/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Legal Secretary salary. For homebuyers, the 2.4× price-to-income ratio is comfortable — a median {p.title} salary supports the median home in {city.name} well inside standard lender DTI caps.
How Grand Island Stacks Up for Legal Secretarys
Against 283 major US cities: Grand Island ranks #262 for nominal Legal Secretary salary, #23 for rent affordability, and #31 for overall purchasing power. Grand Island is mid-pack: solid nominal salaries partly absorbed by cost of living. Whether it "pays well" depends heavily on housing choices.
Nearby Cities — Legal Secretary Salary Comparison
Grand Island's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs NE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Island, NE ★ | $76,066 | 84 | $825 | — |
| Omaha, NE | $47,320 | 91 | $941 | -37.8% |
| Lincoln, NE | $45,240 | 87 | $795 | -40.5% |
| Peoria, IL | $43,680 | 84 | $800 | -42.6% |
| El Paso, TX | $43,680 | 84 | $745 | -42.6% |
| Fayetteville, NC | $43,680 | 84 | $859 | -42.6% |
Legal Secretary Job Market in Grand Island
Grand Island has an estimated 6 annual Legal Secretaryopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 164,900 national Legal Secretarys[1]. The 3.0% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Legal secretaries perform administrative tasks in law firms and legal departments, including typing legal documents, scheduling, and managing correspondence. Typical entry requirement: high school diploma or associate degree. Projected growth through 2034: -7%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Grand Island
Early-career Legal Secretarys in Grand Island start around $42,703, reach the city median ($76,066) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($170,767) at senior / specialized levels.
Related legal professions in Grand Island
Calculators for Legal Secretarys in Grand Island
Other professions in Grand Island
Frequently Asked Questions — Legal Secretary in Grand Island
How much does a Legal Secretary make in Grand Island, NE?
The estimated median salary for a Legal Secretary in Grand Island is $76,066/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Nebraska state median ($81,760) by Grand Island's composite cost-of-living index of 84 (US = 100). After federal, Nebraska state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $59,034/year or $4,919/month.
Can a Legal Secretary afford to live in Grand Island?
On $4,919/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,476/month. Grand Island's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,279/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,175/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 13.0%, making housing very affordable for a Legal Secretary at the local median. Home-buyers face 2.4× price-to-income, needing roughly 2.4 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Legal Secretary pay in Grand Island?
On $76,066 gross, a Legal Secretary in Grand Island pays approximately $8,183 in federal income tax (10.8% effective), $3,030 in Nebraska state income tax (4.0% effective), and $5,819 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 22.4%. Some Nebraska cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Grand Island rank for Legal Secretary salaries vs other cities?
Grand Island ranks #262 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Legal Secretary salary, #23 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #31 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Legal Secretary in Grand Island?
On $59,034 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Grand Island looks like: housing $9,900/yr (16.8%); food $6,404/yr; transportation $5,526/yr; healthcare $3,934/yr; utilities $2,716/yr; savings + discretionary $30,554/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Grand Island's COL index of 84 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Legal Secretary job market like in Grand Island?
Grand Island's unemployment rate is 3.0% across the metro of 75,000. Estimated annual Legal Secretary openings: ~6 (extrapolated from 164,900 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Grand Island employers pay above or below the Nebraska median for Legal Secretarys?
Yes — Grand Island's estimated Legal Secretary median of $76,066 is 46.3% above the national median. Higher nominal pay in this city partially offsets the higher cost of living; the real picture depends on housing costs and state taxes.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Grand Island median is derived from the Nebraska state-level BLS OEWS median ($81,760), scaled by Grand Island's composite cost-of-living index of 84. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Legal Secretarymedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Nebraska's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 84index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 90.3(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Nebraska Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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