Sewing Machine Operators in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,250
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$5,620
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,078
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
$35,870
Kept after tax
$30,250
Worth in national money
$34,078
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Iowa is 30 of 50 states for sewing machine operators, with a middle wage of $35,870. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Iowa this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, sewing machine operators ranks 449. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,870 you keep $30,250 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,078 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,570, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa ranks 30 of 50 for sewing machine operators at $35,870. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Iowa reports, sewing machine operators ranks 449 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $30,250 after the full tax stack, from $35,870. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,078 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,570 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,270 |
| This salary | $35,870 |
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 | $30,250 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,002 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,176 |
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 | $34,935 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,631 |
| 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 sewing machine operators in Iowa earn under $35,870 and half over. The published range runs $28,890 at the tenth percentile to $47,270 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,250 take-home in Iowa comes from $35,870. 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 449 of 493.
- Two cautions on $34,078, the adjusted value of that $35,870 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 449 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for sewing machine operators in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,890 to $47,270; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,250, from $35,870, 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 449 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 30 of 50 for it.
- This $34,078 adjusted figure, worked from $35,870, 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 449 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 449 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,890 at the tenth percentile, $47,270 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 $34,078 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, $30,250 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,890 to $47,270) 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 $34,078 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 $30,250 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.