Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,110
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,010
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,578
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
$63,120
Kept after tax
$51,110
Worth in national money
$57,578
State rank
44
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $63,120, ranking 44 of 49 states — about 19.44% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 191.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $63,120 you keep $51,110 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,578 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $66,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 44 of 49 for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other, with a median of $63,120 — about 19.44% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other sits at 191 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 $51,110 after the full tax stack, from $63,120. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,578 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $66,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,620 |
| This salary | $63,120 |
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 | $51,110 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,897 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,143 |
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 | $60,896 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,861 |
| 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 $63,120. The published range is $42,460 up to $89,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $51,110 take-home in Iowa comes from $63,120. 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 191 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,578 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 191.
- Reported values are medians; for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,460 to $89,620. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $51,110, from $63,120, 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 191 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,578, worked from $63,120, 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 191 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 $66,460 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 $42,460, the highest tenth $89,620, 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 $57,578 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, $51,110 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $66,460. 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 ($42,460) and the ninetieth ($89,620) 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 $57,578 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 $51,110 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.