Live in Iowa, work in Wisconsin
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Wisconsin takes
$2,107
on wages earned there
Iowa takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,107
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$439
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youWisconsin charges more than Iowa would, and Iowa only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Iowa bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- Here is the thing people get wrong about Iowa and Wisconsin. Moving somewhere cheaper does not help if the job stays put. The state where you work takes its share first, and your home state only refunds up to what it charges itself. That leaves $439 a year that exists purely because the job is across the line. All in, $2,107.
- Around 5,520 jobs link Iowa to Wisconsin this way. That is modest next to the country's large corridors, and it makes no difference at all to what you owe. It might mean explaining your situation to a payroll department that sees it less often.
- Wisconsin taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and Iowa taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: Iowa credits tax paid to Wisconsin only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $2,107 against $1,668 for the same earner working at home — $439 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in Wisconsin changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- This is a smaller corridor by national standards — 5,520 jobs in Wisconsin held by Iowa residents — but the rules that govern it are the same rules that govern the largest ones. Corridor size changes how familiar an employer's payroll department is with the paperwork, never the tax treatment.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,238
- Yours$59,354
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax2.98% | $2,238 |
| Yours79.14% | $59,354 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| Wisconsin takes, on wages earned there | $2,107 |
|---|---|
| Iowa charges its residents | $1,668 |
| Less the credit Iowa gives | $1,668 |
| Total state tax | $2,107 |
| If you also worked in Iowa | $1,668 |
| Difference | $439 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- City wage taxes are not in these numbers. A few places charge them, and where they do the money is real. If your job in Wisconsin is inside a city that taxes workers, add that on top. Where it is not, the state figures above are the whole of it for Iowa residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Wisconsin is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Iowa. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Every dollar figure here uses a salary of sixty thousand a year. It is a stated benchmark, not a guess at what people on this route earn. Scale them to your own pay. Which state ends up dearer, Iowa or Wisconsin, generally holds at other salaries — though the gap between them can widen or narrow as you cross tax brackets.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether Wisconsin or Iowa carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Wisconsin and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Iowa limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Wisconsin portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Wisconsin rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the Iowa to Wisconsin comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in Wisconsin's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to Iowa and Wisconsin?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. Wisconsin taxes what you earn inside it. Iowa taxes you on everything, then subtracts what Wisconsin already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $2,107 a year on this route.
Would moving out of Iowa lower my state tax if I keep working in Wisconsin?
Not while you work in Wisconsin. That state's claim comes from where the work happens. Iowa is the one giving ground, through the credit, and a cheaper home state gives less ground rather than costing you less. The number that matters is set by Wisconsin.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Iowa and Wisconsin?
Expect two. Living in Iowa means filing there on everything you earn. Working in Wisconsin usually means filing there as well, on the part you earned inside it. The second one is often how the credit gets claimed, so skipping it can cost you money you are owed.
What if I work from home in Iowa some days instead of going to Wisconsin?
Normally, days worked at home in Iowa belong to Iowa, and only the days you spend in Wisconsin are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check Wisconsin's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Wisconsin on a source basis, Iowa on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $2,107 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. Wisconsin's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at Wisconsin's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Iowa requires a resident return reporting all income; Wisconsin requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from Iowa fall outside Wisconsin's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in Wisconsin throughout.