Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,190
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,890
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,782
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
$54,080
Kept after tax
$44,190
Worth in national money
$49,782
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays payroll and timekeeping clerks around $54,080 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Payroll and timekeeping clerks ranks 268 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,080 the take-home is $44,190; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $49,782 would nationally. The average comes to $56,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For payroll and timekeeping clerks the Iowa median is $54,080, ranking 33 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.
- Position 268 of 493 in Iowa places payroll and timekeeping clerks 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.
- Post-tax income for payroll and timekeeping clerks in Iowa, on $54,080, is $44,190 — equivalent to $49,782 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $56,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,990 |
| This salary | $54,080 |
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 | $44,190 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,633 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,822 |
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 | $52,284 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,413 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $54,080 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,410 and the ninetieth is $70,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $44,190, from $54,080, 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 268 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $49,782 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 268.
- The Iowa median of $54,080 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,410 to $70,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $44,190 from $54,080. 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 268 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,782, worked from $54,080, 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 268 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $56,960 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,410 at the bottom tenth to $70,990 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 $49,782.
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 $44,190.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $56,960. 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 ($39,410 to $70,990) 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 $49,782 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 $44,190 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.