Butchers and Meat Cutters in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,689
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,061
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,700
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
$37,750
Kept after tax
$31,689
Worth in national money
$35,700
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for butchers and meat cutters is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $37,750. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 5.95% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, butchers and meat cutters lands at 430. 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 $37,750 you keep $31,689, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,700 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,450, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For butchers and meat cutters, Iowa sits in the lower band at $37,750, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 5.95%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 430 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 butchers and meat cutters on $37,750 is $31,689. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,700 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 $38,450 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,510 |
| This salary | $37,750 |
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 | $31,689 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,512 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,242 |
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 | $36,726 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,712 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of butchers and meat cutters in Iowa earn under $37,750 and half over. The published range runs $30,200 at the tenth percentile to $46,510 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $31,689, worked from $37,750. 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 430 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,700 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 430.
- Figures are distribution medians for butchers and meat cutters in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,200 to $46,510; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Iowa take-home of $31,689, on $37,750 for work ranking 430 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 430 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,700, worked from $37,750, 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 430 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,200 at the bottom tenth to $46,510 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $35,700 in national terms.
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 $31,689 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 ($30,200 to $46,510) 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 $35,700 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 $31,689 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.