Food Service Managers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,831
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,869
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,643
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
$66,700
Kept after tax
$53,831
Worth in national money
$60,643
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 29 of 51 states for food service managers, with a middle wage of $66,700. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food service managers ranks 164 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $66,700 you keep $53,831 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $60,643 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $69,950, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 29 of 51 for food service managers at $66,700. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 164 of 493 in Iowa places food service managers 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $53,831 after the full tax stack, from $66,700. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $60,643 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $69,950 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,170 |
| This salary | $66,700 |
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 | $53,831 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,753 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,268 |
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 | $64,282 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,515 |
| 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 food service managers in Iowa earn under $66,700 and half over. The published range runs $45,610 at the tenth percentile to $100,170 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $53,831, worked from $66,700. 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 164 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,643 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 164.
- Figures are distribution medians for food service managers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,610 to $100,170; 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.
- The Iowa take-home of $53,831, on $66,700 for work ranking 164 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 164 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,643, worked from $66,700, 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 164 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 $69,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,610 and the top tenth $100,170 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $60,643 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 $53,831.
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 $69,950. 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 ($45,610) and the ninetieth ($100,170) 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 $60,643 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 $53,831 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.