Postsecondary Teachers, All Other in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,145
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$14,535
20.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,376
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
$71,680
Kept after tax
$57,145
Worth in national money
$64,376
State rank
27
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $71,680 at the midpoint, 27 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 149 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $71,680 you keep $57,145 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $64,376 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $71,400.
- For postsecondary teachers, all other the Iowa median is $71,680, ranking 27 of 48 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.
- Postsecondary teachers, all other ranks 149 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $57,145 after the full tax stack, from $71,680. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,376 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $71,400 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postsecondary Teachers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,680 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,680 |
| This salary | $71,680 |
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 | $57,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,257 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,397 |
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 | $68,678 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,692 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,680 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,130 and the ninetieth is $103,680 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $57,145, worked from $71,680. 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 149 of 493.
- Two cautions on $64,376, the adjusted value of that $71,680 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 149 of 493 locally.
- The Iowa median of $71,680 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,130 to $103,680. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $57,145, on $71,680 for work ranking 149 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 149 of 493 in the state.
- This $64,376 adjusted figure, worked from $71,680, 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 149 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 149 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $30,130 and the top tenth $103,680 — 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 $64,376 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 $57,145.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($30,130) and the ninetieth ($103,680) 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 $64,376 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 $57,145 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.