Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,921
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$7,969
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,719
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
$45,890
Kept after tax
$37,921
Worth in national money
$42,719
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $45,890, 38 of 51 states and about 22.29% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 358 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,890 the take-home is $37,921; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,719 would nationally. The average comes to $46,150, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa's $45,890 median for bus drivers, transit and intercity places it 38 of 51 states, about 22.29% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 358 of 493 in Iowa places bus drivers, transit and intercity 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.
- Post-tax income for bus drivers, transit and intercity in Iowa, on $45,890, is $37,921 — equivalent to $42,719 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $46,150 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,730 |
| This salary | $45,890 |
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 | $37,921 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,053 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,531 |
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 | $44,481 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,061 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,890 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,520 and the ninetieth is $60,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $37,921, worked from $45,890. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 358 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,719 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 358.
- The Iowa median of $45,890 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,520 to $60,730. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $37,921, on $45,890 for work ranking 358 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 358 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,719, worked from $45,890, 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 358 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,520 and the top tenth $60,730, 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 $42,719 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 $37,921 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,520 to $60,730) 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 $42,719 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 $37,921 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.