Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,083
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$7,407
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,650
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
$43,490
Kept after tax
$36,083
Worth in national money
$40,650
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $43,490, ranking 16 of 51 states and sitting about 8.08% above the national middle.
- Measured against other jobs in Iowa, this one sits low: 387 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $43,490 you keep $36,083, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,650 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $43,520, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa's median for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand is $43,490, about 8.08% above the national figure and 16 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand occupies position 387 of 493 in Iowa's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand on $43,490 is $36,083. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,650 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $43,520 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,620 |
| This salary | $43,490 |
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 | $36,083 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,124 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,446 |
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 | $42,195 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,958 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Iowa earn less than $43,490. The published range is $32,790 up to $53,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $36,083, worked from $43,490. 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 387 of 493.
- Two cautions on $40,650, the adjusted value of that $43,490 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 387 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,790 to $53,620. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $36,083, on $43,490 for work ranking 387 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 387 of 493 in the state.
- This $40,650 adjusted figure, worked from $43,490, 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 387 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 387 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,790 at the tenth percentile, $53,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $40,650.
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 $36,083 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,790 to $53,620) 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 $40,650 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 $36,083 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.