Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,430
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,900
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,787
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
$41,330
Kept after tax
$34,430
Worth in national money
$38,787
State rank
19
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $41,330, ranking 19 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 398. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $41,330 you keep $34,430 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,787 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $43,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for office machine operators, except computer: a median of $41,330, ranking 19 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, office machine operators, except computer ranks 398 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $34,430 after the full tax stack, from $41,330. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,787 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $43,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,190 |
| This salary | $41,330 |
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 | $34,430 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,389 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,369 |
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 | $40,137 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,866 |
| 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 $41,330. The published range is $33,750 up to $63,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $34,430, worked from $41,330. 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 398 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,787 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 398.
- Reported values are medians; for office machine operators, except computer in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,750 to $63,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $34,430, on $41,330 for work ranking 398 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 398 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,787, worked from $41,330, 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 398 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 $43,930, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $33,750 at the bottom tenth to $63,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $38,787.
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 $34,430.
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 47 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 $43,930. 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 ($33,750 to $63,190) 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 $38,787 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 $34,430 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.