Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,855
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,256
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,771
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
$47,110
Kept after tax
$38,855
Worth in national money
$43,771
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,110, ranking 27 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 340 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,110 you keep $38,855 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,771 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,760, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters: a median of $47,110, ranking 27 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 340 of 493 in Iowa places cabinetmakers and bench carpenters 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $38,855 after the full tax stack, from $47,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,771 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,760 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,370 |
| This salary | $47,110 |
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 | $38,855 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,033 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,575 |
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 | $45,643 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,114 |
| 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 $47,110. The published range is $38,410 up to $60,370, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $38,855, worked from $47,110. 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 340 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,771 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 340.
- Reported values are medians; for cabinetmakers and bench carpenters in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,410 to $60,370. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $38,855, on $47,110 for work ranking 340 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 340 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,771, worked from $47,110, 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 340 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $48,760 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,410 at the tenth percentile, $60,370 at the ninetieth.
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 $43,771 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, $38,855 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 49 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 $48,760. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,410 to $60,370) 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 $43,771 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 $38,855 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.