Operations research analysts job market in Nebraska

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Operations research analysts in Nebraska.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 94.76% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Operations research analysts earn in Nebraska

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$98,300Nebraska
Middle 50% of published wages
$70,640 – $128,280
U.S. median annual wage
$88,940
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Nebraska

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Operations research analysts, compared with the Nebraska median of $98,300.

Nebraska median$98,300
Omaha, NE-IA$102,900+4.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$75,390 – $134,530Published employment240
Lincoln, NE$77,570−21.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$63,540 – $104,960Published employment50

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Nebraska median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Nebraska’s weighted industry mix.

-1.0%Industry employmentNebraska industry employmentU.S. -0.4%vs. -0.4% U.S.
+3.2%Establishments in weighted industriesNebraska establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.5%vs. +2.5% U.S.
+5.0%Avg. weekly industry wageNebraska avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +4.9% · not occupation payvs. +4.9% U.S. · not occupation pay
-0.7 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 39,202 represented establishments, 84.64% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for operations research analysts in Nebraska

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

This occupation is less concentrated in the state

The published location quotient for operations research analysts in Nebraska is 0.46 in OEWS May 2025: their share of employment is 0.46 times the national share. The state estimate is 330 jobs, 0.3% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.32 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. The measure describes the distribution of existing employment, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions

The leading industry groups examined represent 89.6% of this occupation's national industry mix. Their Nebraska employment changes were mixed in January to March 2026: +2.4% year over year in Private education and health services, compared with -3.0% in Professional and business services. Those opposing movements are combined in the overall industry measure.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is above the U.S. median

OEWS May 2025 records a state median annual wage of $98,300 for operations research analysts in Nebraska. Against the national median of $88,940, that is 10.5% higher. A median describes the middle of the distribution and does not include a living-cost adjustment.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Employment and establishment counts moved apart

An establishment-count change of +3.2% accompanied an employment change of -1.0% year over year in January to March 2026 for the industries that employ this occupation in Nebraska. The two measures moved in opposite directions. This comparison describes their movements without identifying a cause.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Nebraska · 2026 Q1-1.0%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.4%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Nebraska industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterNebraskaCoverage
2024 Q2+0.1%100%
2024 Q3-0.1%100%
2024 Q4-0.3%100%
2025 Q1-0.8%99.64%
2025 Q2-0.9%99.64%
2025 Q3-0.8%99.64%
2025 Q4-0.8%100%
2026 Q1-1.0%94.76%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Nebraska’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
-0.4%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Operations research analysts Work

The occupation mix determines which Nebraska industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Nebraska Operations research analysts context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services34.8%-3.0%17,116$1,705
Financial activities26.0%+0.8%8,143$2,313
Private education and health services11.4%+2.4%9,541$1,208
State and local6.5%+1.1%2,520$1,165
Information5.5%+0.6%1,882$2,098
Federal5.3%-7.6%872$1,960

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Nebraska employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+2.4%
  • State and local+1.1%
  • Financial activities+0.8%
  • Information+0.6%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Selected state comparison

Nebraska vs. other states

A selected set of other states with valid reports for this occupation, not every available state. Each state’s own published industry employment change for QCEW 2026 Q1, ordered with this report first and then alphabetically. This is not a ranking and there is no state-level score.

Open state comparison
  • NebraskaThis report-1.0%-0.7 pp vs. U.S.
  • Iowa-0.9%-0.5 pp vs. U.S.
  • Kansas+0.2%+0.6 pp vs. U.S.

How to read this

Same occupation, same release

Every state shown published its own verified QCEW 2026 Q1 figure for the industries weighted to Operations research analysts. Bars are proportional to each published change; left of centre is a decline.

Current Nebraska context

Current Nebraska Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Nebraska. They are not Operations research analysts demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Nebraska

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

123.6Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+23.6%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+1.1%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026116.96
Jul 31, 2026116.76
Aug 7, 2026117.28
Aug 14, 2026117.97
Aug 21, 2026118.56
Aug 28, 2026119.29
Sep 4, 2026119.99
Sep 11, 2026121.09
Sep 18, 2026120.88
Sep 25, 2026122.17
Oct 2, 2026122.05
Oct 9, 2026121.79
Oct 16, 2026122.63
Oct 23, 2026123.57

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide WARN notices

Nebraska statewide

1 notice in this source

Notice dates from Aug 4, 2026 to Nov 1, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Nebraska’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.

Nebraska Department of Labor About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Operations research analysts in Nebraska FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Operations research analysts in Nebraska?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Nebraska industries weighted to Operations research analysts changed -1.0% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.4% nationwide.

Are wages for Operations research analysts rising in Nebraska?

QCEW does not publish pay for Operations research analysts in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +5.0% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Nebraska industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 94.76% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Operations research analysts openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 94.76% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Operations research analysts
SOC code
15-2031
State
Nebraska
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
-1.0%State data coverage 94.76%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
-0.4%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-0.7 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+3.2%State data coverage 94.76%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+5.0%State data coverage 99.64%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/operations-research-analysts/nebraska#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Operations research analysts in other states