Retail Salespersons in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,798
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$4,562
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,189
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
$31,360
Kept after tax
$26,798
Worth in national money
$30,189
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for retail salespersons is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $31,360. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 11.44% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 493 occupations Iowa publishes, retail salespersons lands at 469. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $31,360 the take-home is $26,798; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,189 would nationally. The average comes to $34,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For retail salespersons, Iowa sits in the lower band at $31,360, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.44%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Iowa, this work ranks 469 of 493 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for retail salespersons in Iowa, on $31,360, is $26,798 — equivalent to $30,189 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 $34,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Retail Salespersons
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,900 |
| This salary | $31,360 |
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 | $26,798 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,378 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,015 |
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 | $30,638 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,437 |
| 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 $31,360. The published range is $25,220 up to $45,900, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $26,798, from $31,360, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 469 of 493 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $30,189, the adjusted value of that $31,360 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 469 of 493 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for retail salespersons in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,220 to $45,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,798 from $31,360. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 469 of 493 locally.
- This $30,189 adjusted figure, worked from $31,360, 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 469 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 469 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 $34,480, 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 $25,220 and the top tenth $45,900, 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 $30,189 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 $26,798.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $34,480. 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 ($25,220 to $45,900) 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 $30,189 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 $26,798 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.