Food Batchmakers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,765
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,535
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,798
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
$48,300
Kept after tax
$39,765
Worth in national money
$44,798
State rank
4
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is one of the better-paying states for food batchmakers. The middle earner takes $48,300, which ranks 4 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 14.21% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food batchmakers ranks 315 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $48,300 you keep $39,765, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,798 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,620, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 4 of 50 states publishing a median for food batchmakers, at $48,300 — about 14.21% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 315 of 493 in Iowa places food batchmakers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for food batchmakers on $48,300 is $39,765. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,798 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 $50,620 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,780 |
| This salary | $48,300 |
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 | $39,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,989 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,617 |
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 | $46,777 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,165 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,300 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,830 and the ninetieth is $62,780 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $39,765, worked from $48,300. 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 315 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,798, the adjusted value of that $48,300 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 315 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $48,300 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,830 to $62,780. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $39,765, on $48,300 for work ranking 315 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 315 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $44,798 — the adjusted value of that $48,300 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 315 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 $50,620, 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 $35,830 and the top tenth $62,780, 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 $44,798 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 $39,765.
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.
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 $50,620. 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 ($35,830 to $62,780) 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 $44,798 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 $39,765 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.