Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,953
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$17,957
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,046
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
$81,910
Kept after tax
$63,953
Worth in national money
$72,046
State rank
22
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Iowa pays this job around $81,910 at the midpoint, 22 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Iowa reports, this job comes in at 91 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $81,910 you keep $63,953, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $72,046 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $92,520, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary the Iowa median is $81,910, ranking 22 of 46 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 91 of 493 occupations by median in Iowa, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for sociology teachers, postsecondary on $81,910 is $63,953. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $72,046 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 $92,520 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $150,230 |
| This salary | $81,910 |
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 | $63,953 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,454 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,660 |
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 | $78,355 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,056 |
| 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 sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa earn under $81,910 and half over. The published range runs $49,460 at the tenth percentile to $150,230 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $63,953 take-home in Iowa comes from $81,910. 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 91 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $72,046, the adjusted value of that $81,910 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 91 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,460 to $150,230; 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 $63,953, from $81,910, 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 91 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $72,046 — the adjusted value of that $81,910 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 91 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $92,520, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $49,460 at the bottom tenth to $150,230 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $72,046.
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, $63,953 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $92,520. 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 ($49,460) and the ninetieth ($150,230) 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 $72,046 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 $63,953 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.