Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,059
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,381
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,267
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
$60,440
Kept after tax
$49,059
Worth in national money
$55,267
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Iowa. The middle earner gets $60,440. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 7.19% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 219.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,440 you keep $49,059 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $55,267 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $59,940.
- For special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, Iowa sits in the lower band at $60,440, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 7.19%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school sits at 219 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.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $49,059 after the full tax stack, from $60,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $55,267 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,940 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,260 |
| This salary | $60,440 |
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 | $49,059 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,744 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,048 |
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 | $58,343 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,686 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,440 as a midpoint for Iowa, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,490 and the ninetieth is $77,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $49,059, worked from $60,440. 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 219 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,267, the adjusted value of that $60,440 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 219 of 493 in the state.
- The Iowa median of $60,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,490 to $77,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Iowa take-home of $49,059, on $60,440 for work ranking 219 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 219 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $55,267 — the adjusted value of that $60,440 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 219 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,490 at the bottom tenth to $77,260 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $55,267 in national terms.
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 $49,059 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,490 to $77,260) 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 $55,267 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 $49,059 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.