Postal Service Mail Carriers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,630
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,250
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,784
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
$59,880
Kept after tax
$48,630
Worth in national money
$54,784
State rank
25
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays postal service mail carriers around $59,880 at the midpoint, 25 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service mail carriers ranks 224 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $59,880 you keep $48,630 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,784 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $61,480, since top earners drag the number up.
- For postal service mail carriers the Iowa median is $59,880, ranking 25 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 224 of 493 in Iowa places postal service mail carriers 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $48,630 after the full tax stack, from $59,880. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,784 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $61,480 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Carriers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $59,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,040 |
| This salary | $59,880 |
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 | $48,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,294 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,028 |
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 | $57,810 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,662 |
| 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 postal service mail carriers in Iowa earn under $59,880 and half over. The published range runs $42,390 at the tenth percentile to $81,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $48,630, from $59,880, 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 224 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,784, the adjusted value of that $59,880 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 224 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail carriers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,390 to $81,040; 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 $48,630 from $59,880. 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 224 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $54,784 — the adjusted value of that $59,880 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 224 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,390 at the bottom tenth to $81,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,784 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 $48,630 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($42,390 to $81,040) 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 $54,784 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 $48,630 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.