Correctional Officers and Jailers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,394
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,646
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,885
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
$53,040
Kept after tax
$43,394
Worth in national money
$48,885
State rank
28
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 28 of 49 states for this job, with a middle wage of $53,040. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 272 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,040 the take-home is $43,394; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $48,885 would nationally. The average comes to $57,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa ranks 28 of 49 for correctional officers and jailers at $53,040. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 272 of 493 in Iowa places correctional officers and jailers 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 correctional officers and jailers in Iowa, on $53,040, is $43,394 — equivalent to $48,885 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 $57,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,530 |
| This salary | $53,040 |
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 | $43,394 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,798 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,785 |
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 | $51,293 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,368 |
| 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 $53,040. The published range is $47,670 up to $73,530, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $43,394, from $53,040, 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 272 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,885 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 272.
- Reported values are medians; for correctional officers and jailers in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,670 to $73,530. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,394 from $53,040. 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 272 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,885, worked from $53,040, 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 272 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $57,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,670 at the bottom tenth to $73,530 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $48,885 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, $43,394 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.
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 $57,140. 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 ($47,670 to $73,530) 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 $48,885 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 $43,394 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.