Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,129
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,871
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,713
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
$54,000
Kept after tax
$44,129
Worth in national money
$49,713
State rank
43
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays earth drillers, except oil and gas a middle wage of $54,000, 43 of 48 states and about 10.28% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Earth drillers, except oil and gas ranks 269 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $54,000 you keep $44,129 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $49,713 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $55,690, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa's $54,000 median for earth drillers, except oil and gas places it 43 of 48 states, about 10.28% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 269 of 493 in Iowa places earth drillers, except oil and gas in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $44,129 after the full tax stack, from $54,000. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,713 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,690 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,720 |
| This salary | $54,000 |
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 | $44,129 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,569 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,819 |
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 | $52,208 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,410 |
| 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 $54,000. The published range is $47,130 up to $66,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $44,129 take-home in Iowa comes from $54,000. 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 269 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,713, the adjusted value of that $54,000 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 269 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for earth drillers, except oil and gas in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,130 to $66,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $44,129, from $54,000, 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 269 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $49,713 — the adjusted value of that $54,000 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 269 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 $55,690 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,130 and the top tenth $66,720, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $49,713 in national terms.
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, $44,129 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $55,690. 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 ($47,130 to $66,720) 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 $49,713 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 $44,129 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.