Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,717
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$14,823
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,021
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
$72,540
Kept after tax
$57,717
Worth in national money
$65,021
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $72,540, ranking 11 of 50 states and sitting about 11.69% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 147 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $72,540 the take-home is $57,717; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $65,021 would nationally. The average lands at $70,890, below the middle of the range.
- Iowa's median for civil engineering technologists and technicians is $72,540, about 11.69% above the national figure and 11 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 147 of 493 in Iowa places civil engineering technologists and technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for civil engineering technologists and technicians in Iowa, on $72,540, is $57,717 — equivalent to $65,021 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 $70,890 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,760 |
| This salary | $72,540 |
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 | $57,717 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,862 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,419 |
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 | $69,491 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,722 |
| 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 civil engineering technologists and technicians in Iowa earn under $72,540 and half over. The published range runs $46,520 at the tenth percentile to $90,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $57,717 take-home in Iowa comes from $72,540. 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 147 of 493.
- Two cautions on $65,021, the adjusted value of that $72,540 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 147 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for civil engineering technologists and technicians in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,520 to $90,760; 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 $57,717, from $72,540, 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 147 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 50 for it.
- This $65,021 adjusted figure, worked from $72,540, 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 147 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 147 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,520 at the bottom tenth to $90,760 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $65,021 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 $57,717 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,520 to $90,760) 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 $65,021 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 $57,717 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.