Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,855
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,175
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,152
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
$51,030
Kept after tax
$41,855
Worth in national money
$47,152
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 27 of 49 states for drywall and ceiling tile installers, with a middle wage of $51,030. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 287.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $51,030 you keep $41,855 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $47,152 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $53,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 27 of 49 for drywall and ceiling tile installers at $51,030. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, drywall and ceiling tile installers sits at 287 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 $41,855 after the full tax stack, from $51,030. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $47,152 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $53,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,650 |
| This salary | $51,030 |
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 | $41,855 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,183 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,714 |
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 | $49,378 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,282 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,030 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,750 and the ninetieth is $67,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $41,855 take-home in Iowa comes from $51,030. 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 287 of 493.
- Two cautions on $47,152, the adjusted value of that $51,030 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 287 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $51,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,750 to $67,650. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $41,855, from $51,030, 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 287 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 49 for it.
- This $47,152 adjusted figure, worked from $51,030, 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 287 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 287 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 $53,230, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $36,750 at the bottom tenth to $67,650 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $47,152.
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, $41,855 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $53,230. 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 ($36,750 to $67,650) 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 $47,152 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 $41,855 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.