Labor Relations Specialists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,109
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$17,031
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,969
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
$79,140
Kept after tax
$62,109
Worth in national money
$69,969
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for labor relations specialists is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $79,140. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 17.06% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within Iowa this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, labor relations specialists ranks 110 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $79,140 the take-home is $62,109; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $69,969 would nationally. The average comes to $100,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For labor relations specialists, Iowa sits in the lower band at $79,140, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 17.06%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation Iowa publishes a median for, labor relations specialists sits 110 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for labor relations specialists in Iowa, on $79,140, is $62,109 — equivalent to $69,969 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 $100,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Labor Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $151,890 |
| This salary | $79,140 |
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 | $62,109 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,505 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,589 |
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 | $75,735 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,957 |
| 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 labor relations specialists in Iowa earn under $79,140 and half over. The published range runs $61,020 at the tenth percentile to $151,890 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 $62,109, worked from $79,140. 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 110 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,969 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 110.
- Figures are distribution medians for labor relations specialists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,020 to $151,890; 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 $62,109, on $79,140 for work ranking 110 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 110 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,969, worked from $79,140, 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 110 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 $100,350, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $61,020 and the top tenth $151,890 — 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 $69,969 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa's own levy, $62,109 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $100,350. 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 ($61,020) and the ninetieth ($151,890) 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 $69,969 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 $62,109 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.