Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,572
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,539
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,845
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
$61,110
Kept after tax
$49,572
Worth in national money
$55,845
State rank
16
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,110, which ranks 16 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 14.57% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 204 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 $61,110 you keep $49,572 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,845 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $60,140.
- Iowa ranks 16 of 50 states publishing a median for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators, at $61,110 — about 14.57% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators ranks 204 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 $49,572 after the full tax stack, from $61,110. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,845 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,140 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,070 |
| This salary | $61,110 |
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 | $49,572 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,282 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,072 |
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 | $58,981 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,715 |
| 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 paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Iowa earn under $61,110 and half over. The published range runs $52,360 at the tenth percentile to $65,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $49,572, from $61,110, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 204 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,845, the adjusted value of that $61,110 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 204 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,360 to $65,070; 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.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,572 from $61,110. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 204 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $55,845 — the adjusted value of that $61,110 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 204 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $52,360 and the top tenth $65,070, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $55,845.
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, $49,572 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 ($52,360 to $65,070) 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 $55,845 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 $49,572 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.