Compensation and Benefits Managers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$88,137
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$30,113
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,290
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
$118,250
Kept after tax
$88,137
Worth in national money
$99,290
State rank
33
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $118,250. That is 33 of 45 states, and about 20.76% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, this job comes in at 25 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $118,250 you keep $88,137, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $99,290 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $135,150, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For compensation and benefits managers, Iowa sits in the lower band at $118,250, ranking 33 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 20.76%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Compensation and benefits managers ranks 25 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for compensation and benefits managers on $118,250 is $88,137. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $99,290 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $135,150 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Compensation and Benefits Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $118,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $202,600 |
| This salary | $118,250 |
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 | $88,137 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,019 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,596 |
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 | $112,732 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,431 |
| 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 compensation and benefits managers in Iowa earn under $118,250 and half over. The published range runs $77,000 at the tenth percentile to $202,600 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $88,137 take-home in Iowa comes from $118,250. 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 25 of 493.
- Two cautions on $99,290, the adjusted value of that $118,250 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 25 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for compensation and benefits managers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $77,000 to $202,600; 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 $88,137, from $118,250, 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 25 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 45 for it.
- This $99,290 adjusted figure, worked from $118,250, 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 25 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 25 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $135,150 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $77,000 at the bottom tenth to $202,600 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $99,290 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 $88,137 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $135,150. 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 ($77,000) and the ninetieth ($202,600) 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 $99,290 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 $88,137 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.