Construction Laborers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,911
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,579
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,961
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
$48,490
Kept after tax
$39,911
Worth in national money
$44,961
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays construction laborers around $48,490 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 312.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $48,490 you keep $39,911 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,961 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For construction laborers the Iowa median is $48,490, ranking 25 of 51 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.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, construction laborers sits at 312 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $39,911 after the full tax stack, from $48,490. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,961 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,900 |
| This salary | $48,490 |
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 | $39,911 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,142 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,624 |
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 | $46,958 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,173 |
| 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 $48,490. The published range is $38,180 up to $68,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $39,911, worked from $48,490. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 312 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,961 uses one figure for the whole of Iowa. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 312.
- Reported values are medians; for construction laborers in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,180 to $68,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $39,911, on $48,490 for work ranking 312 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 312 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,961, worked from $48,490, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Iowa address, on work sitting at 312 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 $51,580, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,180 at the tenth percentile, $68,900 at the ninetieth.
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 $44,961 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 $39,911 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $51,580. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,180 to $68,900) 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 $44,961 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 $39,911 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.