Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,937
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,923
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,763
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
$66,860
Kept after tax
$53,937
Worth in national money
$60,763
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $66,860, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Iowa, this sits in the middle: 161 of 493 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Iowa is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $66,860 the take-home is $53,937; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $60,763 would nationally. The average comes to $71,180, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents: a median of $66,860, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents ranks 161 of 493 occupations in Iowa by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents in Iowa, on $66,860, is $53,937 — equivalent to $60,763 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 $71,180 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $66,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,700 |
| This salary | $66,860 |
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 | $53,937 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,866 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,272 |
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 | $64,415 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,520 |
| 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 tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents in Iowa earn under $66,860 and half over. The published range runs $50,460 at the tenth percentile to $100,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $53,937 take-home in Iowa comes from $66,860. 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 161 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $60,763 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 161.
- Figures are distribution medians for tax examiners and collectors, and revenue agents in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,460 to $100,700; 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 $53,937, from $66,860, 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 161 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $60,763, worked from $66,860, 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 161 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 $71,180, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $50,460, the highest tenth $100,700, 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 $60,763.
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 $53,937.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $71,180. 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 ($50,460) and the ninetieth ($100,700) 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 $60,763 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 $53,937 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.