Physical Therapist Aides in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,083
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$4,037
13.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,257
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
$29,120
Kept after tax
$25,083
Worth in national money
$28,257
State rank
43
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays physical therapist aides a middle wage of $29,120, 43 of 50 states and about 17.37% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, physical therapist aides ranks 481. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,120 you keep $25,083, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $28,257 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $31,420, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa's $29,120 median for physical therapist aides places it 43 of 50 states, about 17.37% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, physical therapist aides ranks 481 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.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for physical therapist aides on $29,120 is $25,083. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $28,257 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $31,420 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,760 |
| This salary | $29,120 |
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 | $25,083 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,578 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,936 |
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 | $28,504 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,341 |
| 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 physical therapist aides in Iowa earn under $29,120 and half over. The published range runs $21,840 at the tenth percentile to $43,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $25,083 take-home in Iowa comes from $29,120. 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 481 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,257 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 481.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapist aides in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,840 to $43,760; 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 $25,083, from $29,120, 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 481 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,257, worked from $29,120, 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 481 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 $31,420, 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 $21,840 and the top tenth $43,760 — 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 $28,257 in national terms.
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 $25,083.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $31,420. 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 ($21,840) and the ninetieth ($43,760) 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 $28,257 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 $25,083 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.