Live in Wisconsin, work in Iowa
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
Iowa takes
$1,668
on wages earned there
Wisconsin takes
$439
after the credit it gives
Both together
$2,107
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$0
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
credit covers itWisconsin charges more, so its credit covers everything Iowa takes. Both states collect; your total does not change. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the Wisconsin 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
- Wisconsin is the dearer of these two states, and that works in your favor here. Whatever Iowa takes out of your pay comes straight back off your Wisconsin bill. The total lands at $2,107, which is exactly what you would owe with a job at home. Do not mistake that for being untaxed by Iowa — it takes $1,668, and Wisconsin simply covers it.
- Wisconsin is one of 6 states sending this many workers into Iowa, and it sits at number 4 of them, with 7,769 jobs. States used to handling out-of-state workers usually make the filing side of it straightforward.
- Both states tax these wages and the commuter pays no more than they would have at home. Iowa takes its non-resident share first — $1,668 at the reference salary — and Wisconsin, whose own liability on the same income is the larger of the two, credits that amount in full and collects the balance. The total is $2,107, identical to what an earner living and working in Wisconsin would owe. ⚠️ The money is split between two treasuries rather than reduced, which matters at filing time: two state returns, not one.
- Iowa draws commuters of this scale from 6 states, and Wisconsin ranks number 4 among them with 7,769 jobs. A work state pulling from that many directions tends to have a well-established non-resident filing routine, which is a practical convenience rather than a tax saving.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,998
- Yours$58,595
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax4% | $2,998 |
| Yours78.13% | $58,595 |
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
| Iowa takes, on wages earned there | $1,668 |
|---|---|
| Wisconsin charges its residents | $2,107 |
| Less the credit Wisconsin gives | $1,668 |
| Total state tax | $2,107 |
| If you also worked in Wisconsin | $2,107 |
| Difference | $0 |
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 Iowa 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 Wisconsin residents.
- Two assumptions sit under this page. First, that Iowa is where all your pay comes from. Second, that you go there rather than working from your kitchen in Wisconsin. Mixed income changes how the credit is worked out, and remote days have their own rules in some states.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of Wisconsin and Iowa takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- 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 Iowa or Wisconsin carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in Iowa and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, Wisconsin limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the Iowa portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in Iowa 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 Wisconsin to Iowa 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 Iowa'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 Wisconsin and Iowa?
You file in both states, but you do not pay the full amount to both. Wisconsin credits the tax Iowa collected, capped at its own charge on that income. The practical result is one bill at the higher of the two levels: $2,107 for the year.
Does working in Iowa cost me anything extra?
It costs you nothing in tax. $2,107 is what you owe whether you work in Iowa or at home in Wisconsin. The only real cost of the crossing is the extra return.
Do I have to file tax returns in both Wisconsin and Iowa?
Two returns is the normal outcome here, even when only one state ends up taking anything. Iowa generally wants to see a non-resident return from people who work there, and Wisconsin wants your whole picture. It is paperwork rather than extra tax.
What if I work from home in Wisconsin some days instead of going to Iowa?
Working from home usually moves that day's pay out of Iowa and into Wisconsin alone. A handful of states disagree and tax remote days as if you had commuted. This page assumes you actually travel to Iowa, so if a lot of your week is at home the split will differ from what you see here.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — Iowa on a source basis, Wisconsin 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.
Why is the marginal state-tax cost of this crossing zero?
Marginal cost is zero because the binding liability is the residence state's. Wisconsin's own charge on this income equals or exceeds Iowa's, so the resident credit absorbs the source-state tax entirely and combined liability equals residence-only liability, $2,107. ⚠️ Zero marginal tax is not zero obligation: a non-resident return may still be required in Iowa.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. Wisconsin requires a resident return reporting all income; Iowa 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 Wisconsin fall outside Iowa'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 Iowa throughout.