Dental Assistants in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,865
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,565
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,910
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
$48,430
Kept after tax
$39,865
Worth in national money
$44,910
State rank
21
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 21 of 50 states for dental assistants, with a middle wage of $48,430. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Dental assistants ranks 313 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $48,430 you keep $39,865 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,910 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 21 of 50 for dental assistants at $48,430. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 313 of 493 in Iowa places dental assistants 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 $39,865 after the full tax stack, from $48,430. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,910 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,450 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,580 |
| This salary | $48,430 |
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 | $39,865 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,094 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,622 |
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 | $46,901 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,170 |
| 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 dental assistants in Iowa earn under $48,430 and half over. The published range runs $39,360 at the tenth percentile to $59,580 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 $39,865, worked from $48,430. 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 313 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,910 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 313.
- Figures are distribution medians for dental assistants in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,360 to $59,580; 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 $39,865, on $48,430 for work ranking 313 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 313 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,910, worked from $48,430, 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 313 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $50,450 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $39,360 at the tenth percentile, $59,580 at the ninetieth.
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 $44,910 in national terms.
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 $39,865.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $50,450. 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 ($39,360 to $59,580) 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 $44,910 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 $39,865 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.