Driver/Sales Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,862
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,258
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,780
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
$47,120
Kept after tax
$38,862
Worth in national money
$43,780
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is one of the better-paying states for driver/sales workers. The middle earner takes $47,120, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 21.54% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 338 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 $47,120 you keep $38,862, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,780 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $45,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Iowa ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for driver/sales workers, at $47,120 — about 21.54% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Driver/sales workers ranks 338 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 driver/sales workers on $47,120 is $38,862. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,780 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 $45,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,760 |
| This salary | $47,120 |
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 | $38,862 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,041 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,575 |
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 | $45,653 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,114 |
| 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 $47,120. The published range is $22,670 up to $64,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $38,862 take-home in Iowa comes from $47,120. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 338 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,780 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 338.
- Reported values are medians; for driver/sales workers in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,670 to $64,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $38,862, from $47,120, assumes a single Iowa filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 338 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,780, worked from $47,120, 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 338 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 $45,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $22,670, the highest tenth $64,760, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $43,780 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $38,862 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $45,260. 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 ($22,670) and the ninetieth ($64,760) 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 $43,780 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 $38,862 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.