Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,602
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$17,278
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,524
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
$79,880
Kept after tax
$62,602
Worth in national money
$70,524
State rank
16
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 16 of 45 states for this job, with a middle wage of $79,880. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Iowa. It ranks 105 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $79,880 you keep $62,602 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $70,524 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $88,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 16 of 45 for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary at $79,880. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Iowa, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 105 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $62,602 after the full tax stack, from $79,880. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $70,524 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $88,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $153,640 |
| This salary | $79,880 |
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 | $62,602 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,026 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,608 |
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 | $76,435 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,984 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $79,880 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,470 and the ninetieth is $153,640 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $62,602, from $79,880, 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 105 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $70,524, the adjusted value of that $79,880 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 105 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $79,880 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,470 to $153,640. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,602 from $79,880. 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 105 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $70,524 — the adjusted value of that $79,880 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 105 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 $88,940, 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 $62,470, the highest tenth $153,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $70,524 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Iowa adds its own income tax on top — which is why $62,602 of this wage survives to your account.
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 45 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 $88,940. 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 ($62,470) and the ninetieth ($153,640) 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 $70,524 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 $62,602 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.