First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other in Iowa

A protective helmet, radio and safety vest at an emergency response station.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$45,974

after federal, FICA and Iowa tax

Tax takes

$10,436

18.5% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$51,791

Iowa costs less than average

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

$56,410

Kept after tax

$45,974

Worth in national money

$51,791

State rank

46

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Iowa is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $56,410, ranking 46 of 50 states — about 26.16% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
  • Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 257 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
  • Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,410 the take-home is $45,974; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,791 would nationally. The average comes to $58,880, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • Iowa ranks 46 of 50 for first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other, with a median of $56,410 — about 26.16% 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.
  • First-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other ranks 257 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.
  • Post-tax income for first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other in Iowa, on $56,410, is $45,974 — equivalent to $51,791 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $58,880 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Protective Service Workers, All Other

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$18,320
Half earn under$56,410
Top tenth earn over$96,100
This salary$56,410

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

Compare with
+$1,532take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Iowa$45,974
Take-home in Texas$47,505
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,905

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

Moving to
$0$59,923
$59,923in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$54,504
Raise you would need+$3,513
Prices in Texas97 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 protective service workers, all other in Iowa earn under $56,410 and half over. The published range runs $18,320 at the tenth percentile to $96,100 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • That $45,974 take-home in Iowa comes from $56,410. 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 257 of 493.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,791, the adjusted value of that $56,410 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 257 of 493 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $18,320 to $96,100; 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 $45,974, from $56,410, 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 257 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 50 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $51,791 — the adjusted value of that $56,410 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 257 of 493 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $58,880, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $18,320, the highest tenth $96,100, 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 $51,791 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, $45,974 remains.

Why is this job missing from some states?

The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $58,880. 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 ($18,320) and the ninetieth ($96,100) 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 $51,791 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 $45,974 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.