Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,222
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$8,368
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,185
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
$47,590
Kept after tax
$39,222
Worth in national money
$44,185
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $47,590, ranking 9 of 51 states and sitting about 5.15% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 330.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,590 you keep $39,222, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,185 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $48,840, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Iowa's median for shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks is $47,590, about 5.15% above the national figure and 9 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks sits at 330 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 shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks on $47,590 is $39,222. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,185 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 $48,840 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,420 |
| This salary | $47,590 |
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 | $39,222 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,419 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,592 |
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 | $46,101 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,134 |
| 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 $47,590. The published range is $35,990 up to $62,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $39,222 take-home in Iowa comes from $47,590. 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 330 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,185 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 330.
- Reported values are medians; for shipping, receiving, and inventory clerks in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,990 to $62,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $39,222, from $47,590, 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 330 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 9 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,185, worked from $47,590, 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 330 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,990 at the tenth percentile, $62,420 at the ninetieth.
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 $44,185.
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 $39,222 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,990 to $62,420) 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 $44,185 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 $39,222 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.