Business Teachers, Postsecondary in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,811
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$18,389
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,013
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
$83,200
Kept after tax
$64,811
Worth in national money
$73,013
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $83,200 at the midpoint, 34 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, this job comes in at 87 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $83,200 you keep $64,811 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $73,013 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $107,120, since top earners drag the number up.
- For business teachers, postsecondary the Iowa median is $83,200, ranking 34 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.
- Business teachers, postsecondary ranks 87 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $64,811 after the full tax stack, from $83,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,013 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $107,120 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Business Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $207,890 |
| This salary | $83,200 |
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 | $64,811 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,361 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,693 |
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 | $79,576 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,102 |
| 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 $83,200. The published range is $49,750 up to $207,890, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $64,811, from $83,200, 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 87 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $73,013, the adjusted value of that $83,200 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 87 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for business teachers, postsecondary in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,750 to $207,890. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,811 from $83,200. 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 87 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $73,013 — the adjusted value of that $83,200 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 87 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 $107,120, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,750 at the bottom tenth to $207,890 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $73,013 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $64,811 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $107,120. 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 ($49,750) and the ninetieth ($207,890) 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 $73,013 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 $64,811 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.