Special Education Teachers, Secondary School in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,319
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$11,461
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,560
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
$60,780
Kept after tax
$49,319
Worth in national money
$55,560
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Iowa pays this job a middle wage of $60,780, 40 of 51 states and about 18.15% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 210.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,780 the take-home is $49,319; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,560 would nationally. The average comes to $63,800, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa's $60,780 median for special education teachers, secondary school places it 40 of 51 states, about 18.15% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, special education teachers, secondary school sits at 210 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.
- Post-tax income for special education teachers, secondary school in Iowa, on $60,780, is $49,319 — equivalent to $55,560 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 $63,800 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Secondary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,570 |
| This salary | $60,780 |
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 | $49,319 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,017 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,060 |
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 | $58,667 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,701 |
| 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 special education teachers, secondary school in Iowa earn under $60,780 and half over. The published range runs $46,840 at the tenth percentile to $81,570 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $49,319, from $60,780, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 210 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,560, the adjusted value of that $60,780 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 210 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for special education teachers, secondary school in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,840 to $81,570; 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.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $49,319 from $60,780. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 210 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $55,560 — the adjusted value of that $60,780 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 210 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 $63,800, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,840 at the bottom tenth to $81,570 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 $55,560 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 $49,319 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.
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 $63,800. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,840 to $81,570) 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 $55,560 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 $49,319 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.