Diagnostic Medical Sonographers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,994
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$19,486
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,472
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
$86,480
Kept after tax
$66,994
Worth in national money
$75,472
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $86,480 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, this job comes in at 79 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $86,480 the take-home is $66,994; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $75,472 would nationally. The average comes to $87,840, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For diagnostic medical sonographers the Iowa median is $86,480, ranking 33 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Diagnostic medical sonographers ranks 79 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for diagnostic medical sonographers in Iowa, on $86,480, is $66,994 — equivalent to $75,472 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $87,840 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $72,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,970 |
| This salary | $86,480 |
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 | $66,994 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,669 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,778 |
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 | $82,678 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,219 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $86,480 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $72,480 and the ninetieth is $101,970 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $66,994, from $86,480, 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 79 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 $75,472 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 79.
- The Iowa median of $86,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $72,480 to $101,970. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $66,994 from $86,480. 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 79 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,472, worked from $86,480, 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 79 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $72,480 at the bottom tenth to $101,970 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 $75,472 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 $66,994 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($72,480 to $101,970) 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 $75,472 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 $66,994 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.