Recruiter salary in Lincoln, NE

Pay in Lincoln against Nebraska and the US

The middle half of recruiters in Lincoln earns $50,840–$78,630. Pay is tightly grouped: the top tenth starts at $97,140, only 2.1 times the bottom tenth, against 2.7 times across the US, so the going rate is easier to read. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $27,790 wide, against $30,580 across Nebraska and $40,770 nationally: employers in Lincoln pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a recruiter here

An offer at the 75th percentile instead of the median adds $15,350 a year in pay and about $19,806 in employer cost. Going down to the 25th percentile saves $12,440 in pay. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $75,940 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Lincoln, and the Nebraska statewide median of $61,930 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Lincoln

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $18,372 to the $63,280 median and brings it to $81,652 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for recruiters we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Lincoln

Of the 17 roles we track in Lincoln, this one ranks #4 by median pay, between project coordinators ($64,710) and sales development representatives ($61,790). Executive Assistant is the highest at $65,410.

Measured against the US median, recruiters rank #13 of the 17 roles we track in Lincoln (-16.7%), between executive assistants (-14.6%) and e-commerce order specialists (-17.2%). The typical role here is at -8.6%, so, measured against the US, recruiters cost less in Lincoln than the area's general pay level would suggest. Recruiters hold 6.1% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Lincoln, 7.2% across Nebraska and 5.8% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in Nebraska

Across the 6 areas of Nebraska with data for this job, the median runs from $61,560 in the Northwest Nebraska nonmetro area to $63,280 in Lincoln, a gap of $1,720 a year. The one area in Nebraska with more recruiters, Omaha, NE-IA ($61,840), pays less: a bigger pool at a lower median.

Lincoln against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Lincoln is #112 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside Nebraska, Waco and Gainesville pay just above Lincoln and Janesville-Beloit and Tuscaloosa just below. All four are within $60 a year of the median in Lincoln. Of the three markets with about as many recruiters, all three pay more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.