Database Administrators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,797
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$24,413
24.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,515
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
$101,210
Kept after tax
$76,797
Worth in national money
$86,515
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for database administrators. The median is $101,210, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Iowa. It ranks 43 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $101,210 you keep $76,797 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $86,515 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $103,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for database administrators: a median of $101,210, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Iowa, database administrators ranks 43 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $76,797 after the full tax stack, from $101,210. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $86,515 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $103,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Database Administrators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,210 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,540 |
| This salary | $101,210 |
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 | $76,797 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,031 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,157 |
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 | $96,613 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,743 |
| 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 database administrators in Iowa earn under $101,210 and half over. The published range runs $58,440 at the tenth percentile to $156,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $76,797, worked from $101,210. 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 43 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $86,515, the adjusted value of that $101,210 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 43 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for database administrators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,440 to $156,540; 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.
- The Iowa take-home of $76,797, on $101,210 for work ranking 43 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 43 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $86,515 — the adjusted value of that $101,210 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 43 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,440, the highest tenth $156,540, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $86,515 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 $76,797 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($58,440) and the ninetieth ($156,540) 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 $86,515 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 $76,797 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.