First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,478
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,302
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,588
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
$38,780
Kept after tax
$32,478
Worth in national money
$36,588
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $38,780, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 20.19% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 418. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $38,780 you keep $32,478, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,588 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 47 of 51 for first-line supervisors of personal service workers, with a median of $38,780 — about 20.19% 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.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, first-line supervisors of personal service workers ranks 418 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for first-line supervisors of personal service workers on $38,780 is $32,478. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,588 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 $42,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,750 |
| This salary | $38,780 |
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 | $32,478 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,340 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,279 |
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 | $37,707 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,756 |
| 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 first-line supervisors of personal service workers in Iowa earn under $38,780 and half over. The published range runs $30,160 at the tenth percentile to $57,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,478 take-home in Iowa comes from $38,780. 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 418 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,588, the adjusted value of that $38,780 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 418 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of personal service workers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,160 to $57,750; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,478, from $38,780, 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 418 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $36,588 — the adjusted value of that $38,780 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 418 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 $42,390, 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 $30,160 and the top tenth $57,750, 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 $36,588 in national terms.
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 $32,478.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $42,390. 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 ($30,160 to $57,750) 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 $36,588 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 $32,478 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.