Broadcast Technicians in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,633
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,187
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,521
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
$46,820
Kept after tax
$38,633
Worth in national money
$43,521
State rank
30
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays broadcast technicians around $46,820 at the midpoint, 30 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Broadcast technicians ranks 343 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,820 you keep $38,633, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,521 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For broadcast technicians the Iowa median is $46,820, ranking 30 of 47 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.
- Position 343 of 493 in Iowa places broadcast technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for broadcast technicians on $46,820 is $38,633. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,521 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 $50,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Broadcast Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,050 |
| This salary | $46,820 |
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 | $38,633 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,800 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,564 |
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 | $45,367 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,101 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,820 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,320 and the ninetieth is $79,050 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $38,633, from $46,820, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 343 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,521 uses one figure for the whole of Iowa. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 343.
- The Iowa median of $46,820 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,320 to $79,050. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,633 from $46,820. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 343 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,521, worked from $46,820, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Iowa address, on work sitting at 343 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $23,320 and the top tenth $79,050 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Iowa is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,521 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa's own levy, $38,633 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Iowa is $50,220. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,320) and the ninetieth ($79,050) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $43,521 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 $38,633 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.