Mechanical Drafters in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,271
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,059
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,759
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
$63,330
Kept after tax
$51,271
Worth in national money
$57,759
State rank
35
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for mechanical drafters is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $63,330. That is 35 of 47 states, and about 11.49% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 190.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,330 you keep $51,271, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $57,759 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $66,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mechanical drafters, Iowa sits in the lower band at $63,330, ranking 35 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 11.49%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, mechanical drafters sits at 190 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 mechanical drafters on $63,330 is $51,271. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $57,759 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 $66,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,370 |
| This salary | $63,330 |
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 | $51,271 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,066 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,151 |
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 | $61,096 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,901 |
| 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 $63,330. The published range is $46,760 up to $95,370, 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 $51,271, worked from $63,330. 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 190 of 493.
- Two cautions on $57,759, the adjusted value of that $63,330 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 190 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical drafters in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,760 to $95,370. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $51,271, on $63,330 for work ranking 190 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 190 of 493 in the state.
- This $57,759 adjusted figure, worked from $63,330, 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 190 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 190 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 $66,820, 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 $46,760 at the bottom tenth to $95,370 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 $57,759 in national terms.
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 $51,271 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 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 $66,820. 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 ($46,760) and the ninetieth ($95,370) 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 $57,759 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 $51,271 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.