Public Relations Managers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,788
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$30,942
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$101,150
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
$120,730
Kept after tax
$89,788
Worth in national money
$101,150
State rank
26
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for public relations managers. The median is $120,730, ranking 26 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, public relations managers comes in at 23 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $120,730 you keep $89,788 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $101,150 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $128,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for public relations managers: a median of $120,730, ranking 26 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Public relations managers ranks 23 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $89,788 after the full tax stack, from $120,730. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $101,150 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $128,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Public Relations Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $120,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $194,860 |
| This salary | $120,730 |
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 | $89,788 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $93,764 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,660 |
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 | $115,078 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,594 |
| 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 public relations managers in Iowa earn under $120,730 and half over. The published range runs $74,040 at the tenth percentile to $194,860 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 $89,788, worked from $120,730. 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 23 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $101,150 uses one figure for the whole of Iowa. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 23.
- Figures are distribution medians for public relations managers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $74,040 to $194,860; 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 $89,788, on $120,730 for work ranking 23 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 23 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $101,150, worked from $120,730, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Iowa address, on work sitting at 23 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $128,080, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $74,040 at the bottom tenth to $194,860 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $101,150 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $89,788 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 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 $128,080. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($74,040) and the ninetieth ($194,860) 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 $101,150 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 $89,788 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.