Private Detectives and Investigators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,262
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$6,849
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,597
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
$41,110
Kept after tax
$34,262
Worth in national money
$38,597
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $41,110, 47 of 49 states and about 19.74% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 400. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $41,110 the take-home is $34,262; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $38,597 would nationally. The average comes to $48,190, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa's $41,110 median for private detectives and investigators places it 47 of 49 states, about 19.74% 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.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, private detectives and investigators ranks 400 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for private detectives and investigators in Iowa, on $41,110, is $34,262 — equivalent to $38,597 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $48,190 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Private Detectives and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,080 |
| This salary | $41,110 |
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 | $34,262 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,212 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,362 |
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 | $39,927 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,856 |
| 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 private detectives and investigators in Iowa earn under $41,110 and half over. The published range runs $36,920 at the tenth percentile to $64,080 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $34,262 take-home in Iowa comes from $41,110. 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 400 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,597, the adjusted value of that $41,110 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 400 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for private detectives and investigators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,920 to $64,080; 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 $34,262, from $41,110, 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 400 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $38,597 — the adjusted value of that $41,110 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 400 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $48,190, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,920 and the top tenth $64,080, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $38,597 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 $34,262.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Iowa is $48,190. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,920 to $64,080) 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 $38,597 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 $34,262 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.