Cargo and Freight Agents in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,819
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,551
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,858
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
$48,370
Kept after tax
$39,819
Worth in national money
$44,858
State rank
40
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is among the lower-paying states for cargo and freight agents. The middle earner takes $48,370, ranking 40 of 48 states — about 7.44% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 314 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 $48,370 the take-home is $39,819; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,858 would nationally. The average comes to $53,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa ranks 40 of 48 for cargo and freight agents, with a median of $48,370 — about 7.44% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Cargo and freight agents ranks 314 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 cargo and freight agents in Iowa, on $48,370, is $39,819 — equivalent to $44,858 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 $53,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cargo and Freight Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,300 |
| This salary | $48,370 |
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 | $39,819 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,045 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,619 |
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 | $46,844 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,168 |
| 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 cargo and freight agents in Iowa earn under $48,370 and half over. The published range runs $38,610 at the tenth percentile to $75,300 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,819 take-home in Iowa comes from $48,370. 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 314 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,858, the adjusted value of that $48,370 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 314 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for cargo and freight agents in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,610 to $75,300; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,819, from $48,370, 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 314 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $44,858 — the adjusted value of that $48,370 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 314 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $38,610, the highest tenth $75,300, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $44,858.
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 $39,819 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $53,420. 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 ($38,610) and the ninetieth ($75,300) 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 $44,858 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 $39,819 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.