Curators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,999
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,831
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,566
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
$53,830
Kept after tax
$43,999
Worth in national money
$49,566
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays curators a middle wage of $53,830, 45 of 49 states and about 15.12% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Curators ranks 270 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $53,830 you keep $43,999 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $49,566 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $54,750, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa's $53,830 median for curators places it 45 of 49 states, about 15.12% 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.
- Position 270 of 493 in Iowa places curators 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $43,999 after the full tax stack, from $53,830. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,566 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $54,750 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Curators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,830 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,780 |
| This salary | $53,830 |
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 | $43,999 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,432 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,813 |
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 | $52,046 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,402 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of curators in Iowa earn under $53,830 and half over. The published range runs $31,910 at the tenth percentile to $89,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $43,999, from $53,830, 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 270 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $49,566, the adjusted value of that $53,830 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 270 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for curators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,910 to $89,780; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,999 from $53,830. 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 270 of 493 locally.
- This $49,566 adjusted figure, worked from $53,830, 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 270 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 270 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,910 at the bottom tenth to $89,780 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 $49,566 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $43,999 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,910) and the ninetieth ($89,780) 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 $49,566 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 $43,999 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.