Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,244
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$18,606
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,500
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
$83,850
Kept after tax
$65,244
Worth in national money
$73,500
State rank
29
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $83,850 at the midpoint, 29 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, this job comes in at 84 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $83,850 you keep $65,244 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $73,500 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $96,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- For medical scientists, except epidemiologists the Iowa median is $83,850, ranking 29 of 46 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.
- Medical scientists, except epidemiologists ranks 84 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $65,244 after the full tax stack, from $83,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,500 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $96,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $83,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $142,140 |
| This salary | $83,850 |
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 | $65,244 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,818 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,710 |
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 | $80,190 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,125 |
| 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 medical scientists, except epidemiologists in Iowa earn under $83,850 and half over. The published range runs $59,580 at the tenth percentile to $142,140 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $65,244 take-home in Iowa comes from $83,850. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 84 of 493.
- Two cautions on $73,500, the adjusted value of that $83,850 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 84 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical scientists, except epidemiologists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,580 to $142,140; 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.
- Retained pay of $65,244, from $83,850, assumes a single Iowa filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 84 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 46 for it.
- This $73,500 adjusted figure, worked from $83,850, 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 84 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 84 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 $96,170 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $59,580 at the bottom tenth to $142,140 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 $73,500 in national terms.
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 $65,244.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $96,170. 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 ($59,580) and the ninetieth ($142,140) 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 $73,500 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 $65,244 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.