Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,255
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,135
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,361
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
$59,390
Kept after tax
$48,255
Worth in national money
$54,361
State rank
22
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $59,390 at the midpoint, 22 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 229.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $59,390 you keep $48,255, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,361 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $56,370, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining the Iowa median is $59,390, ranking 22 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining sits at 229 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.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining on $59,390 is $48,255. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,361 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 $56,370 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,590 |
| This salary | $59,390 |
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 | $48,255 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,900 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,011 |
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 | $57,343 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,641 |
| 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 $59,390. The published range is $41,600 up to $63,590, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $48,255, worked from $59,390. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 229 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,361 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 229.
- Reported values are medians; for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,600 to $63,590. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $48,255, on $59,390 for work ranking 229 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 229 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,361, worked from $59,390, 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 229 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $56,370, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $41,600 and the top tenth $63,590, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,361 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Iowa adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,255 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $56,370. 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 ($41,600 to $63,590) 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 $54,361 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 $48,255 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.