Photographers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,103
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,187
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,165
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
$38,290
Kept after tax
$32,103
Worth in national money
$36,165
State rank
33
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for photographers is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $38,290. That is 33 of 49 states, and about 14.26% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, photographers lands at 425. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $38,290 the take-home is $32,103; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,165 would nationally. The average comes to $42,860, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For photographers, Iowa sits in the lower band at $38,290, ranking 33 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 14.26%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 425 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for photographers in Iowa, on $38,290, is $32,103 — equivalent to $36,165 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 $42,860 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Photographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $15,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,830 |
| This salary | $38,290 |
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 | $32,103 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,946 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,261 |
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 | $37,241 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,735 |
| 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 photographers in Iowa earn under $38,290 and half over. The published range runs $15,080 at the tenth percentile to $77,830 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $32,103, from $38,290, 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 425 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 $36,165 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 425.
- Figures are distribution medians for photographers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $15,080 to $77,830; 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 $32,103 from $38,290. 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 425 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,165, worked from $38,290, 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 425 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 $42,860, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $15,080 and the top tenth $77,830 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $36,165 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 $32,103 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $42,860. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($15,080) and the ninetieth ($77,830) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $36,165 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 $32,103 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.