Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,167
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,513
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,364
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
$39,680
Kept after tax
$33,167
Worth in national money
$37,364
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $39,680 at the midpoint, 23 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, this job lands at 410. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $39,680 you keep $33,167, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $37,364 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For merchandise displayers and window trimmers the Iowa median is $39,680, ranking 23 of 51 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.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 410 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for merchandise displayers and window trimmers on $39,680 is $33,167. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $37,364 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 $42,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,530 |
| This salary | $39,680 |
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 | $33,167 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,063 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,311 |
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 | $38,565 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,795 |
| 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 merchandise displayers and window trimmers in Iowa earn under $39,680 and half over. The published range runs $30,080 at the tenth percentile to $56,530 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $33,167, from $39,680, 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 410 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,364, the adjusted value of that $39,680 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 410 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for merchandise displayers and window trimmers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,080 to $56,530; 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.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,167 from $39,680. 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 410 of 493 locally.
- This $37,364 adjusted figure, worked from $39,680, 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 410 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 410 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $42,250, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,080 and the top tenth $56,530, 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 $37,364.
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 $33,167.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $42,250. 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 ($30,080 to $56,530) 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 $37,364 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 $33,167 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.