Recreation Workers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,589
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,111
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,207
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
$33,700
Kept after tax
$28,589
Worth in national money
$32,207
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for recreation workers. The median is $33,700, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, recreation workers ranks 464. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $33,700 the take-home is $28,589; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,207 would nationally. The average comes to $34,740, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for recreation workers: a median of $33,700, ranking 31 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.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, recreation workers ranks 464 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 recreation workers in Iowa, on $33,700, is $28,589 — equivalent to $32,207 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 $34,740 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,740 |
| This salary | $33,700 |
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 | $28,589 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,258 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,098 |
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 | $32,868 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,538 |
| 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 recreation workers in Iowa earn under $33,700 and half over. The published range runs $24,420 at the tenth percentile to $46,740 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 $28,589, worked from $33,700. 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 464 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,207 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 464.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,420 to $46,740; 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 $28,589, on $33,700 for work ranking 464 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 464 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,207, worked from $33,700, 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 464 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 $34,740, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $24,420 at the bottom tenth to $46,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $32,207 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 $28,589 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $34,740. 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 ($24,420 to $46,740) 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 $32,207 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 $28,589 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.