Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,585
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,335
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,709
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
$38,920
Kept after tax
$32,585
Worth in national money
$36,709
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 27 of 51 states for landscaping and groundskeeping workers, with a middle wage of $38,920. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, landscaping and groundskeeping workers ranks 416. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,920 the take-home is $32,585; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,709 would nationally. The average comes to $41,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa ranks 27 of 51 for landscaping and groundskeeping workers at $38,920. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, landscaping and groundskeeping workers ranks 416 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for landscaping and groundskeeping workers in Iowa, on $38,920, is $32,585 — equivalent to $36,709 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 $41,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,420 |
| This salary | $38,920 |
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 | $32,585 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,452 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,284 |
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 | $37,841 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,762 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,920 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,480 and the ninetieth is $58,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $32,585 take-home in Iowa comes from $38,920. 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 416 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,709, the adjusted value of that $38,920 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 416 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $38,920 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,480 to $58,420. 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 $32,585, from $38,920, 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 416 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $36,709 — the adjusted value of that $38,920 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 416 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 $41,260, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $28,480 at the bottom tenth to $58,420 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $36,709 in national terms.
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 $32,585.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $41,260. 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 ($28,480) and the ninetieth ($58,420) 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 $36,709 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 $32,585 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.