Respiratory Therapists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,195
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$15,565
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,685
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
$74,760
Kept after tax
$59,195
Worth in national money
$66,685
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for respiratory therapists is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $74,760. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 9.14% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 138.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $74,760 you keep $59,195, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,685 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $74,260, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For respiratory therapists, Iowa sits in the lower band at $74,760, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.14%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, respiratory therapists sits at 138 of 493 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for respiratory therapists on $74,760 is $59,195. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,685 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $74,260 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $86,510 |
| This salary | $74,760 |
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 | $59,195 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,424 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,476 |
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 | $71,591 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,801 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Iowa earn less than $74,760. The published range is $62,860 up to $86,510, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $59,195 take-home in Iowa comes from $74,760. 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 138 of 493.
- Two cautions on $66,685, the adjusted value of that $74,760 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 138 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for respiratory therapists in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $62,860 to $86,510. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $59,195, from $74,760, 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 138 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- This $66,685 adjusted figure, worked from $74,760, 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 138 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 138 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $62,860 and the top tenth $86,510, so most people doing this work in Iowa sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $66,685.
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, $59,195 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($62,860 to $86,510) 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 $66,685 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 $59,195 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.