Highway Maintenance Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,566
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,924
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,585
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
$58,490
Kept after tax
$47,566
Worth in national money
$53,585
State rank
10
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is one of the better-paying states for highway maintenance workers. The middle earner takes $58,490, which ranks 10 of 49 states with published figures. That is about 16.37% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 235.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,490 you keep $47,566 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $53,585 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $57,670.
- Iowa ranks 10 of 49 states publishing a median for highway maintenance workers, at $58,490 — about 16.37% 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.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, highway maintenance workers sits at 235 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $47,566 after the full tax stack, from $58,490. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $53,585 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $57,670 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,980 |
| This salary | $58,490 |
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 | $47,566 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,177 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,979 |
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 | $56,485 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,603 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,490 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,380 and the ninetieth is $67,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,566 take-home in Iowa comes from $58,490. 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 235 of 493.
- Two cautions on $53,585, the adjusted value of that $58,490 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Iowa. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 235 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $58,490 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,380 to $67,980. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,566, from $58,490, 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 235 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 10 of 49 for it.
- This $53,585 adjusted figure, worked from $58,490, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 235 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 235 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,380 at the bottom tenth to $67,980 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $53,585 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 $47,566.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,380 to $67,980) 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 $53,585 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 $47,566 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.