Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,051
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,559
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,854
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
$35,610
Kept after tax
$30,051
Worth in national money
$33,854
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $35,610, 45 of 50 states and about 9.34% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 455. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,610 you keep $30,051 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,854 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,060, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa's $35,610 median for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service places it 45 of 50 states, about 9.34% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service ranks 455 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $30,051 after the full tax stack, from $35,610. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,854 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,060 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,840 |
| This salary | $35,610 |
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 | $30,051 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,793 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,166 |
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 | $34,687 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,620 |
| 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Iowa earn under $35,610 and half over. The published range runs $26,100 at the tenth percentile to $46,840 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 $30,051, worked from $35,610. 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 455 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,854, the adjusted value of that $35,610 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 455 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,100 to $46,840; 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 $30,051, on $35,610 for work ranking 455 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 455 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $33,854 — the adjusted value of that $35,610 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 455 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,100 and the top tenth $46,840, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,854 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, $30,051 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,100 to $46,840) 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 $33,854 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 $30,051 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.