Public Safety Telecommunicators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,249
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$10,521
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,102
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
$56,770
Kept after tax
$46,249
Worth in national money
$52,102
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $56,770, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 255 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,770 the take-home is $46,249; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,102 would nationally. The average comes to $57,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for public safety telecommunicators: a median of $56,770, ranking 23 of 51. 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 safety telecommunicators ranks 255 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.
- Post-tax income for public safety telecommunicators in Iowa, on $56,770, is $46,249 — equivalent to $52,102 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 $57,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,000 |
| This salary | $56,770 |
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 | $46,249 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,795 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,918 |
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 | $54,847 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,529 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,770 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,340 and the ninetieth is $72,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,249 take-home in Iowa comes from $56,770. 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 255 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,102, the adjusted value of that $56,770 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 255 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $56,770 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,340 to $72,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,249, from $56,770, 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 255 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $52,102 — the adjusted value of that $56,770 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 255 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $47,340 at the tenth percentile, $72,000 at the ninetieth.
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 $52,102 in national terms.
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, $46,249 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 ($47,340 to $72,000) 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 $52,102 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 $46,249 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.