Medical Records Specialists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,557
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,083
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,816
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
$50,640
Kept after tax
$41,557
Worth in national money
$46,816
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 31 of 51 states for medical records specialists, with a middle wage of $50,640. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Medical records specialists ranks 289 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $50,640 you keep $41,557, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $46,816 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 31 of 51 for medical records specialists at $50,640. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 289 of 493 in Iowa places medical records specialists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for medical records specialists on $50,640 is $41,557. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $46,816 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 $53,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Records Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $66,390 |
| This salary | $50,640 |
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 | $41,557 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,869 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,700 |
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 | $49,006 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,265 |
| 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 $50,640. The published range is $38,910 up to $66,390, 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 $41,557, worked from $50,640. 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 289 of 493.
- Two cautions on $46,816, the adjusted value of that $50,640 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 289 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for medical records specialists in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,910 to $66,390. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $41,557, on $50,640 for work ranking 289 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 289 of 493 in the state.
- This $46,816 adjusted figure, worked from $50,640, 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 289 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 289 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $53,470 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,910 and the top tenth $66,390, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $46,816.
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 $41,557.
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 $53,470. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,910 to $66,390) 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 $46,816 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 $41,557 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.