Chief Executives in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$149,755
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$61,435
29.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$168,706
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
$211,190
Kept after tax
$149,755
Worth in national money
$168,706
State rank
20
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays chief executives around $211,190 at the midpoint, 20 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Iowa this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, chief executives ranks 5 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $211,190 the take-home is $149,755; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $168,706 would nationally. The average comes to $237,270, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For chief executives the Iowa median is $211,190, ranking 20 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Iowa publishes a median for, chief executives sits 5 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for chief executives in Iowa, on $211,190, is $149,755 — equivalent to $168,706 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 $237,270 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Chief Executives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $86,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $211,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $365,320 |
| This salary | $211,190 |
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 | $149,755 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $157,168 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,968 |
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 | $201,124 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,500 |
| 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 $211,190. The published range is $86,090 up to $365,320, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $149,755, from $211,190, 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 5 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $168,706, the adjusted value of that $211,190 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Iowa. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 5 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for chief executives in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $86,090 to $365,320. 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 $149,755 from $211,190. 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 5 of 493 locally.
- This $168,706 adjusted figure, worked from $211,190, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 5 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 5 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 $237,270, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $86,090 and the top tenth $365,320 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $168,706.
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 $149,755.
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.
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 $237,270. 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 ($86,090) and the ninetieth ($365,320) 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 $168,706 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 $149,755 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.