Bakers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,276
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,934
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,234
Iowa costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Iowa — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$37,210
Kept after tax
$31,276
Worth in national money
$35,234
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays bakers around $37,210 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, bakers lands at 435. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,210 you keep $31,276, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,234 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $37,180, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For bakers the Iowa median is $37,210, ranking 20 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 435 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for bakers on $37,210 is $31,276. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,234 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $37,180 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,610 |
| This salary | $37,210 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Iowa | $31,276 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,078 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,223 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $36,212 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,689 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Iowa earn less than $37,210. The published range is $22,920 up to $49,610, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,276 take-home in Iowa comes from $37,210. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 435 of 493.
- Two cautions on $35,234, the adjusted value of that $37,210 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Iowa. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 435 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for bakers in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,920 to $49,610. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,276, from $37,210, assumes a single Iowa filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 435 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- This $35,234 adjusted figure, worked from $37,210, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 435 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 435 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $22,920 and the top tenth $49,610, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $35,234 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Iowa adds its own income tax on top — which is why $31,276 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,920 to $49,610) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Iowa rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Iowa's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $35,234 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $31,276 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Iowa income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.