Massage Therapists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,969
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,741
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,912
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
$57,710
Kept after tax
$46,969
Worth in national money
$52,912
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for massage therapists. The median is $57,710, ranking 31 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 246.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $57,710 you keep $46,969, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,912 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $62,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for massage therapists: a median of $57,710, ranking 31 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, massage therapists sits at 246 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for massage therapists on $57,710 is $46,969. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,912 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 $62,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,570 |
| This salary | $57,710 |
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 | $46,969 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,550 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,951 |
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 | $55,742 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,569 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,710 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,560 and the ninetieth is $91,570 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $46,969, from $57,710, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 246 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $52,912, the adjusted value of that $57,710 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 246 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $57,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,560 to $91,570. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $46,969 from $57,710. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 246 of 493 locally.
- This $52,912 adjusted figure, worked from $57,710, 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 246 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 246 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $62,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $37,560 at the bottom tenth to $91,570 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $52,912.
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, $46,969 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $62,140. 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 ($37,560) and the ninetieth ($91,570) 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 $52,912 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 $46,969 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.