Human Resources Specialists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,837
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,873
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,650
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
$66,710
Kept after tax
$53,837
Worth in national money
$60,650
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for human resources specialists is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $66,710. That is 40 of 51 states, and about 12.15% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 163.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $66,710 the take-home is $53,837; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $60,650 would nationally. The average comes to $73,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For human resources specialists, Iowa sits in the lower band at $66,710, ranking 40 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.15%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, human resources specialists sits at 163 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.
- Post-tax income for human resources specialists in Iowa, on $66,710, is $53,837 — equivalent to $60,650 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 $73,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Human Resources Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $110,640 |
| This salary | $66,710 |
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 | $53,837 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,760 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,269 |
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 | $64,290 |
|---|---|
| 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 human resources specialists in Iowa earn under $66,710 and half over. The published range runs $45,400 at the tenth percentile to $110,640 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 $53,837, worked from $66,710. 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 163 of 493.
- Two cautions on $60,650, the adjusted value of that $66,710 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 163 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for human resources specialists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,400 to $110,640; 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 $53,837, on $66,710 for work ranking 163 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 163 of 493 in the state.
- This $60,650 adjusted figure, worked from $66,710, 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 163 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 163 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $73,850 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $45,400, the highest tenth $110,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $60,650.
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 $53,837 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $73,850. 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 ($45,400) and the ninetieth ($110,640) 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 $60,650 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 $53,837 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.