Soil and Plant Scientists in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,536
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$22,774
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,842
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
$96,310
Kept after tax
$73,536
Worth in national money
$82,842
State rank
4
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for soil and plant scientists is strong here. Iowa's middle earner gets $96,310, putting the state 4 of 46 — about 22.14% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Iowa. It ranks 58 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $96,310 the take-home is $73,536; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $82,842 would nationally. The average comes to $104,430, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For soil and plant scientists, Iowa sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $96,310, ranking 4 of 46 and running about 22.14% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within Iowa, soil and plant scientists ranks 58 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for soil and plant scientists in Iowa, on $96,310, is $73,536 — equivalent to $82,842 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 $104,430 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $56,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $170,820 |
| This salary | $96,310 |
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 | $73,536 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,584 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,031 |
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 | $91,977 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,568 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in Iowa earn under $96,310 and half over. The published range runs $56,270 at the tenth percentile to $170,820 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $73,536 take-home in Iowa comes from $96,310. 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 58 of 493.
- Two cautions on $82,842, the adjusted value of that $96,310 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 58 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $56,270 to $170,820; 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 $73,536, from $96,310, 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 58 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 46 for it.
- This $82,842 adjusted figure, worked from $96,310, 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 58 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 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 $104,430, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $56,270, the highest tenth $170,820, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $82,842.
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 $73,536.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $104,430. 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 ($56,270) and the ninetieth ($170,820) 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 $82,842 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 $73,536 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.