Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,594
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,626
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,490
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
$57,220
Kept after tax
$46,594
Worth in national money
$52,490
State rank
25
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $57,220 at the midpoint, 25 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 253.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,220 the take-home is $46,594; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,490 would nationally. The average comes to $58,250, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For camera operators, television, video, and film the Iowa median is $57,220, ranking 25 of 46 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.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, camera operators, television, video, and film sits at 253 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for camera operators, television, video, and film in Iowa, on $57,220, is $46,594 — equivalent to $52,490 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 $58,250 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,180 |
| This salary | $57,220 |
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 | $46,594 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,156 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,934 |
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 | $55,275 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,548 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,220 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,700 and the ninetieth is $81,180 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,594 take-home in Iowa comes from $57,220. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 253 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,490, the adjusted value of that $57,220 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 253 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $57,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,700 to $81,180. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,594, from $57,220, assumes a single Iowa filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 253 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $52,490 — the adjusted value of that $57,220 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 253 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,700 at the bottom tenth to $81,180 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $52,490.
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, $46,594 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 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,700) and the ninetieth ($81,180) 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 $52,490 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 $46,594 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.