Occupational Health and Safety Specialists in Iowa

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May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$67,893

after federal, FICA and Iowa tax

Tax takes

$19,937

22.7% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$76,484

Iowa costs less than average

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

$87,830

Kept after tax

$67,893

Worth in national money

$76,484

State rank

29

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $87,830 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 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 75 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $87,830 you keep $67,893, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $76,484 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $90,390, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • For occupational health and safety specialists the Iowa median is $87,830, ranking 29 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.
  • Occupational health and safety specialists ranks 75 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.
  • After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for occupational health and safety specialists on $87,830 is $67,893. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $76,484 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 $90,390 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Specialists

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$59,080
Half earn under$87,830
Top tenth earn over$126,480
This salary$87,830

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

Compare with
+$2,726take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Iowa$67,893
Take-home in Texas$70,618
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$3,813

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

Moving to
$0$93,097
$93,097in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$83,955
Raise you would need+$5,267
Prices in Texas97 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 occupational health and safety specialists in Iowa earn under $87,830 and half over. The published range runs $59,080 at the tenth percentile to $126,480 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $67,893, worked from $87,830. 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 75 of 493.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $76,484, the adjusted value of that $87,830 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 75 of 493 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for occupational health and safety specialists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,080 to $126,480; 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.
  • The Iowa take-home of $67,893, on $87,830 for work ranking 75 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 75 of 493 in the state.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $76,484 — the adjusted value of that $87,830 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 75 of 493 locally.

Questions people ask

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

The label is broader than the work. From $59,080 at the bottom tenth to $126,480 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 $76,484 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 $67,893.

Can I compare this job across every state?

All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.

What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?

Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($59,080) and the ninetieth ($126,480) 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 $76,484 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 $67,893 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.