Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,974
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,356
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,172
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
$60,330
Kept after tax
$48,974
Worth in national money
$55,172
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,330, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 220 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,330 you keep $48,974 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,172 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $63,770, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators: a median of $60,330, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 220 of 493 in Iowa places operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $48,974 after the full tax stack, from $60,330. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,172 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $63,770 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,460 |
| This salary | $60,330 |
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 | $48,974 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,655 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,044 |
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 | $58,238 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,682 |
| 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 operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Iowa earn under $60,330 and half over. The published range runs $46,690 at the tenth percentile to $87,460 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,974 take-home in Iowa comes from $60,330. 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 220 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,172 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 220.
- Figures are distribution medians for operating engineers and other construction equipment operators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,690 to $87,460; 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.
- Retained pay of $48,974, from $60,330, 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 220 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,172, worked from $60,330, 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 220 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 $63,770, 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 $46,690 and the top tenth $87,460, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $55,172 in national terms.
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 $48,974 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $63,770. 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 ($46,690 to $87,460) 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 $55,172 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 $48,974 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.