Dental Laboratory Technicians in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,168
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,352
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,125
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
$47,520
Kept after tax
$39,168
Worth in national money
$44,125
State rank
31
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $47,520, ranking 31 of 46 states — about 4.21% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 332 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,520 you keep $39,168, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,125 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $52,700, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 31 of 46 for dental laboratory technicians, with a median of $47,520 — about 4.21% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Dental laboratory technicians ranks 332 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.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for dental laboratory technicians on $47,520 is $39,168. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,125 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $52,700 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Dental Laboratory Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,450 |
| This salary | $47,520 |
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 | $39,168 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,362 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,589 |
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 | $46,034 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,131 |
| 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 laboratory technicians in Iowa earn under $47,520 and half over. The published range runs $35,750 at the tenth percentile to $67,450 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $39,168, from $47,520, 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 332 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,125 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 332.
- Figures are distribution medians for dental laboratory technicians in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,750 to $67,450; 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 $39,168 from $47,520. 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 332 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,125, worked from $47,520, 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 332 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 $52,700, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $35,750 and the top tenth $67,450, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,125.
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, $39,168 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $52,700. 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 ($35,750 to $67,450) 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 $44,125 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 $39,168 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.