Firefighters in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,514
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,296
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,274
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
$55,810
Kept after tax
$45,514
Worth in national money
$51,274
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for firefighters. The median is $55,810, ranking 26 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 261 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 $55,810 you keep $45,514, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,274 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $57,240, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for firefighters: a median of $55,810, ranking 26 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Firefighters ranks 261 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 firefighters on $55,810 is $45,514. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,274 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 $57,240 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,240 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,720 |
| This salary | $55,810 |
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 | $45,514 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,023 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,884 |
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 | $53,932 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,487 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of firefighters in Iowa earn under $55,810 and half over. The published range runs $32,240 at the tenth percentile to $87,720 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $45,514, from $55,810, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 261 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $51,274, the adjusted value of that $55,810 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 261 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for firefighters in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,240 to $87,720; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,514 from $55,810. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 261 of 493 locally.
- This $51,274 adjusted figure, worked from $55,810, 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 261 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 261 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $32,240, the highest tenth $87,720, 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 $51,274 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Iowa then takes its own share, leaving $45,514.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($32,240) and the ninetieth ($87,720) 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 $51,274 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 $45,514 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.