Physical Therapist Assistants in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,510
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,520
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,776
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
$61,030
Kept after tax
$49,510
Worth in national money
$55,776
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for physical therapist assistants is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $61,030. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 10.75% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 205.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,030 you keep $49,510 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,776 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $60,220.
- For physical therapist assistants, Iowa sits in the lower band at $61,030, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.75%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, physical therapist assistants sits at 205 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $49,510 after the full tax stack, from $61,030. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,776 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,220 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,950 |
| This salary | $61,030 |
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 | $49,510 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,218 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,069 |
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 | $58,905 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,712 |
| 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 assistants in Iowa earn under $61,030 and half over. The published range runs $45,760 at the tenth percentile to $74,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $49,510, worked from $61,030. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 205 of 493.
- Two cautions on $55,776, the adjusted value of that $61,030 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 205 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapist assistants in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,760 to $74,950; 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.
- The Iowa take-home of $49,510, on $61,030 for work ranking 205 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 205 of 493 in the state.
- This $55,776 adjusted figure, worked from $61,030, 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 205 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 205 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,760 at the bottom tenth to $74,950 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $55,776 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $49,510 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,760 to $74,950) 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 $55,776 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 $49,510 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.