Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,173
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,047
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,004
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
$46,220
Kept after tax
$38,173
Worth in national money
$43,004
State rank
26
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $46,220 at the midpoint, 26 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 355 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 $46,220 you keep $38,173 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,004 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $46,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- For molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic the Iowa median is $46,220, ranking 26 of 48 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.
- Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic ranks 355 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 $38,173 after the full tax stack, from $46,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,004 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $46,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,380 |
| This salary | $46,220 |
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 | $38,173 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,318 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,543 |
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 | $44,796 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,076 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,220 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,140 and the ninetieth is $59,380 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $38,173, worked from $46,220. 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 355 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,004, the adjusted value of that $46,220 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 355 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $46,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,140 to $59,380. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $38,173, on $46,220 for work ranking 355 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 355 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $43,004 — the adjusted value of that $46,220 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 355 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,140 at the tenth percentile, $59,380 at the ninetieth.
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 $43,004 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa's own levy, $38,173 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,140 to $59,380) 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 $43,004 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 $38,173 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.