Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,931
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,729
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,869
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
$57,660
Kept after tax
$46,931
Worth in national money
$52,869
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $57,660. That is 46 of 49 states, and about 12.99% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 249 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $57,660 you keep $46,931 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $52,869 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $58,090, since top earners drag the number up.
- For career/technical education teachers, secondary school, Iowa sits in the lower band at $57,660, ranking 46 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 12.99%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Career/technical education teachers, secondary school ranks 249 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $46,931 after the full tax stack, from $57,660. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $52,869 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,090 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,650 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,930 |
| This salary | $57,660 |
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 | $46,931 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,510 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,949 |
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 | $55,695 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,567 |
| 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 $57,660. The published range is $43,650 up to $75,930, 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 $46,931, worked from $57,660. 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 249 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,869, the adjusted value of that $57,660 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 249 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for career/technical education teachers, secondary school in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,650 to $75,930. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $46,931, on $57,660 for work ranking 249 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 249 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $52,869 — the adjusted value of that $57,660 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 249 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $43,650 at the tenth percentile, $75,930 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,869.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Iowa then takes its own share, leaving $46,931.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($43,650 to $75,930) 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 $52,869 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 $46,931 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.