Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,459
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,811
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,845
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
$62,270
Kept after tax
$50,459
Worth in national money
$56,845
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $62,270, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 198 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $62,270 the take-home is $50,459; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,845 would nationally. The average comes to $68,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for career/technical education teachers, postsecondary: a median of $62,270, ranking 29 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Career/technical education teachers, postsecondary ranks 198 of 493 occupations in Iowa by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for career/technical education teachers, postsecondary in Iowa, on $62,270, is $50,459 — equivalent to $56,845 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 $68,130 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $96,210 |
| This salary | $62,270 |
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 | $50,459 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,214 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,113 |
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 | $60,086 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,765 |
| 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 $62,270. The published range is $45,080 up to $96,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $50,459, from $62,270, 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 198 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,845 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 198.
- Reported values are medians; for career/technical education teachers, postsecondary in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,080 to $96,210. 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 $50,459 from $62,270. 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 198 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,845, worked from $62,270, 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 198 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 $68,130, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,080, the highest tenth $96,210, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $56,845 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 $50,459 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.
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 $68,130. 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 ($45,080) and the ninetieth ($96,210) 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 $56,845 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 $50,459 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.