Cost Estimators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,046
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$15,994
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,645
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
$76,040
Kept after tax
$60,046
Worth in national money
$67,645
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cost estimators is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $76,040. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 3.43% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 130 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $76,040 you keep $60,046 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,645 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $78,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For cost estimators, Iowa sits in the lower band at $76,040, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 3.43%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Cost estimators ranks 130 of 493 occupations in Iowa by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $60,046 after the full tax stack, from $76,040. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,645 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $78,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $118,410 |
| This salary | $76,040 |
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 | $60,046 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,324 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,509 |
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 | $72,802 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,847 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,040 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,740 and the ninetieth is $118,410 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $60,046, from $76,040, 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 130 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $67,645, the adjusted value of that $76,040 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 130 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $76,040 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,740 to $118,410. 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 $60,046 from $76,040. 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 130 of 493 locally.
- This $67,645 adjusted figure, worked from $76,040, 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 130 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 130 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $48,740, the highest tenth $118,410, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $67,645 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 $60,046.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,740) and the ninetieth ($118,410) 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 $67,645 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 $60,046 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.