Security Guards in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,177
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,903
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,122
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
$37,080
Kept after tax
$31,177
Worth in national money
$35,122
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for security guards. The median is $37,080, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Iowa, this one sits low: 437 of 493 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $37,080 you keep $31,177 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,122 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $42,220, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for security guards: a median of $37,080, 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.
- Security guards occupies position 437 of 493 in Iowa's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $31,177 after the full tax stack, from $37,080. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,122 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $42,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,290 |
| This salary | $37,080 |
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 | $31,177 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,974 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,218 |
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 | $36,088 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,683 |
| 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 security guards in Iowa earn under $37,080 and half over. The published range runs $30,350 at the tenth percentile to $59,290 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 $31,177, worked from $37,080. 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 437 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,122 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 437.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,350 to $59,290; 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 $31,177, on $37,080 for work ranking 437 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 437 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,122, worked from $37,080, 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 437 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $42,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $30,350, the highest tenth $59,290, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $35,122 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 $31,177 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 $42,220. 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 ($30,350) and the ninetieth ($59,290) 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 $35,122 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 $31,177 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.