Millwrights in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,421
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,799
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,802
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
$62,220
Kept after tax
$50,421
Worth in national money
$56,802
State rank
33
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for millwrights is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $62,220. That is 33 of 48 states, and about 5.3% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 199 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $62,220 you keep $50,421 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,802 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $64,500, since top earners drag the number up.
- For millwrights, Iowa sits in the lower band at $62,220, ranking 33 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 5.3%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Millwrights ranks 199 of 493 occupations in Iowa by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $50,421 after the full tax stack, from $62,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,802 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $64,500 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Millwrights
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,710 |
| This salary | $62,220 |
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 | $50,421 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,174 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,111 |
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 | $60,039 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,763 |
| 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 $62,220. The published range is $47,050 up to $79,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $50,421 take-home in Iowa comes from $62,220. 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 199 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,802 uses one figure for the whole of Iowa. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 199.
- Reported values are medians; for millwrights in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $47,050 to $79,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $50,421, from $62,220, 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 199 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,802, worked from $62,220, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Iowa address, on work sitting at 199 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 $64,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,050 and the top tenth $79,710, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $56,802 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $50,421 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $64,500. 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 ($47,050 to $79,710) 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 $56,802 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 $50,421 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.