Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,857
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,193
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,509
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
$34,050
Kept after tax
$28,857
Worth in national money
$32,509
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays laundry and dry-cleaning workers around $34,050 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, laundry and dry-cleaning workers lands at 462. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,050 you keep $28,857 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,509 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $34,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- For laundry and dry-cleaning workers the Iowa median is $34,050, ranking 29 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 462 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $28,857 after the full tax stack, from $34,050. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,509 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $34,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,700 |
| This salary | $34,050 |
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 | $28,857 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,539 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,111 |
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 | $33,201 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,553 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,050 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,750 and the ninetieth is $41,700 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $28,857, worked from $34,050. 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 462 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,509 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 462.
- The Iowa median of $34,050 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,750 to $41,700. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $28,857, on $34,050 for work ranking 462 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 462 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,509, worked from $34,050, 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 462 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $28,750 at the bottom tenth to $41,700 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $32,509.
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 $28,857 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 ($28,750 to $41,700) 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 $32,509 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 $28,857 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.