Opticians, Dispensing in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,841
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$7,639
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,503
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
$44,480
Kept after tax
$36,841
Worth in national money
$41,503
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 32 of 51 states for opticians, dispensing, with a middle wage of $44,480. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, opticians, dispensing ranks 378. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,480 you keep $36,841 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,503 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,570, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 32 of 51 for opticians, dispensing at $44,480. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, opticians, dispensing ranks 378 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 $36,841 after the full tax stack, from $44,480. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,503 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,570 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,790 |
| This salary | $44,480 |
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 | $36,841 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,920 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,481 |
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 | $43,138 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,001 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,480 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,270 and the ninetieth is $53,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,841 take-home in Iowa comes from $44,480. 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 378 of 493.
- Two cautions on $41,503, the adjusted value of that $44,480 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Iowa. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 378 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $44,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,270 to $53,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $36,841, from $44,480, 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 378 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- This $41,503 adjusted figure, worked from $44,480, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 378 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 378 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $37,270 at the bottom tenth to $53,790 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 $41,503.
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 $36,841.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,270 to $53,790) 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 $41,503 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 $36,841 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.