Physical Therapists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,368
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$23,192
23.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,779
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
$97,560
Kept after tax
$74,368
Worth in national money
$83,779
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays physical therapists a middle wage of $97,560, 45 of 51 states and about 5.06% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Iowa. It ranks 53 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $97,560 you keep $74,368 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $83,779 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $94,780.
- Iowa's $97,560 median for physical therapists places it 45 of 51 states, about 5.06% 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.
- Within Iowa, physical therapists ranks 53 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $74,368 after the full tax stack, from $97,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $83,779 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $94,780 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $73,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $120,730 |
| This salary | $97,560 |
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 | $74,368 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,463 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,063 |
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 | $93,160 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,613 |
| 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 therapists in Iowa earn under $97,560 and half over. The published range runs $73,780 at the tenth percentile to $120,730 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $74,368 take-home in Iowa comes from $97,560. 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 53 of 493.
- Two cautions on $83,779, the adjusted value of that $97,560 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 53 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $73,780 to $120,730; 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 $74,368, from $97,560, 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 53 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 51 for it.
- This $83,779 adjusted figure, worked from $97,560, 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 53 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 53 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $73,780 at the tenth percentile, $120,730 at the ninetieth.
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 $83,779.
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, $74,368 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($73,780 to $120,730) 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 $83,779 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 $74,368 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.