Dental Hygienists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,350
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$18,660
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,620
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
$84,010
Kept after tax
$65,350
Worth in national money
$73,620
State rank
44
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dental hygienists is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $84,010. That is 44 of 50 states, and about 14.36% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Iowa this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, dental hygienists ranks 83 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $84,010 you keep $65,350 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $73,620 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $86,640, since top earners drag the number up.
- For dental hygienists, Iowa sits in the lower band at $84,010, ranking 44 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 14.36%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Iowa publishes a median for, dental hygienists sits 83 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $65,350 after the full tax stack, from $84,010. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,620 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $86,640 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Dental Hygienists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $84,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,810 |
| This salary | $84,010 |
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 | $65,350 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,931 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,714 |
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 | $80,342 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,131 |
| 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 $84,010. The published range is $78,320 up to $95,810, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $65,350, from $84,010, 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 83 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $73,620, the adjusted value of that $84,010 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 83 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for dental hygienists in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $78,320 to $95,810. 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 $65,350 from $84,010. 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 83 of 493 locally.
- This $73,620 adjusted figure, worked from $84,010, 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 83 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 83 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $86,640, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $78,320 at the bottom tenth to $95,810 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $73,620 in national terms.
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, $65,350 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $86,640. 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 ($78,320 to $95,810) 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 $73,620 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 $65,350 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.