Computer Programmers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,136
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$17,044
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,999
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
$79,180
Kept after tax
$62,136
Worth in national money
$69,999
State rank
41
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays computer programmers a middle wage of $79,180, 41 of 46 states and about 21.13% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, computer programmers comes in at 109 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $79,180 the take-home is $62,136; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $69,999 would nationally. The average comes to $87,010, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa's $79,180 median for computer programmers places it 41 of 46 states, about 21.13% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Computer programmers ranks 109 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.
- Post-tax income for computer programmers in Iowa, on $79,180, is $62,136 — equivalent to $69,999 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 $87,010 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,060 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,520 |
| This salary | $79,180 |
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 | $62,136 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,533 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,590 |
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 | $75,773 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,959 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,180 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $54,060 and the ninetieth is $128,520 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $62,136 take-home in Iowa comes from $79,180. 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 109 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $69,999, the adjusted value of that $79,180 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 109 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $79,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $54,060 to $128,520. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $62,136, from $79,180, 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 109 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $69,999 — the adjusted value of that $79,180 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 109 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $87,010, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $54,060 at the bottom tenth to $128,520 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $69,999 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $62,136.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 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 $87,010. 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 ($54,060) and the ninetieth ($128,520) 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 $69,999 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 $62,136 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.