Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,128
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,402
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,344
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
$60,530
Kept after tax
$49,128
Worth in national money
$55,344
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,530, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.52% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 216 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,530 you keep $49,128, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,344 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $60,640, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, at $60,530 — about 3.52% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators ranks 216 of 493 occupations in Iowa by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators on $60,530 is $49,128. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,344 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 $60,640 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,360 |
| This salary | $60,530 |
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 | $49,128 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,816 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,051 |
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 | $58,429 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,690 |
| 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 sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Iowa earn under $60,530 and half over. The published range runs $42,600 at the tenth percentile to $76,360 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 $49,128, worked from $60,530. 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 216 of 493.
- Two cautions on $55,344, the adjusted value of that $60,530 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 216 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,600 to $76,360; 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 $49,128, on $60,530 for work ranking 216 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 216 of 493 in the state.
- This $55,344 adjusted figure, worked from $60,530, 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 216 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 216 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $76,360 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $55,344.
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, $49,128 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 ($42,600 to $76,360) 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 $55,344 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 $49,128 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.