Maybe it can be adjusted for in software, but I don't believe this is just a calibration issue. I also don't think it's color temp, precisely, because that should be either bluish cold or reddish warm, not urine yellow (sorry, best way to describe it). I've seen this on many devices over the last few years, from ASUS Transformers to iPads to the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. The only device I've bought where I didn't have at least one with a yellow screen was my Nexus 4, and I'm pretty sure I was just lucky the first time out--plenty of people complained about this on their Nexus 4s.
I think it's some kind of manufacturing variability, with the intended design specs (and software calibration) to have truer whites and deeper colors (washed out UI colors go along with the yellow tint). Personally, I can't accept it--the problem also shows itself as a lack of contrast in UI elements, such as the browser address bar against the background gray, or text fields in Hangouts. On the yellowish displays, there's almost no contrast, and so the fields can actually be hard to make out sometimes.
Thing is, if you never have two devices to hold side-by-side, then you may never notice the issue. You'll just think that colors are washed out, because that's more obvious by itself than the off-color whites.
I went through four iPad 3s before getting one with true whites, and more Nexus 7s and Nexus 10s than I'll admit to. I just hate it, personally, and honestly the Nexus 5 hasn't been so great so far that I'll go through the same number to get one that's acceptable. I have a replacement on its way (my audio output is also a bit distorted), and if that one's the same then I might give up on this year's Nexus and get an LG G2 instead.