Cooks, Short Order in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,888
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,202
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,543
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
$34,090
Kept after tax
$28,888
Worth in national money
$32,543
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 27 of 49 states for cooks, short order, with a middle wage of $34,090. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, cooks, short order ranks 461. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $34,090 you keep $28,888, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,543 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $34,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 27 of 49 for cooks, short order at $34,090. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, cooks, short order ranks 461 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for cooks, short order on $34,090 is $28,888. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,543 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 $34,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,650 |
| This salary | $34,090 |
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 | $28,888 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,571 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,112 |
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 | $33,239 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,555 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,090 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,960 and the ninetieth is $46,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $28,888, from $34,090, 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 461 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $32,543, the adjusted value of that $34,090 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 461 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $34,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,960 to $46,650. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $28,888 from $34,090. 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 461 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $32,543 — the adjusted value of that $34,090 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 461 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $24,960 at the tenth percentile, $46,650 at the ninetieth.
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 $32,543 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa's own levy, $28,888 remains.
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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($24,960 to $46,650) 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 $32,543 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 $28,888 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.