Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,770
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,230
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,676
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
$47,000
Kept after tax
$38,770
Worth in national money
$43,676
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $47,000. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 6.63% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 341.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,000 you keep $38,770 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,676 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,790, since top earners drag the number up.
- For dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance, Iowa sits in the lower band at $47,000, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 6.63%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance sits at 341 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $38,770 after the full tax stack, from $47,000. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,676 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,790 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $47,000 |
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 | $38,770 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,945 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,571 |
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 | $45,539 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,109 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,000 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,960 and the ninetieth is $75,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $38,770, from $47,000, 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 341 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $43,676, the adjusted value of that $47,000 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 341 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $47,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,960 to $75,280. 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 $38,770 from $47,000. 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 341 of 493 locally.
- This $43,676 adjusted figure, worked from $47,000, 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 341 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 341 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $51,790, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $36,960 at the bottom tenth to $75,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $43,676.
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 $38,770.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $51,790. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,960) and the ninetieth ($75,280) 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 $43,676 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 $38,770 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.