Tax Preparers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,869
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,791
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,420
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
$53,660
Kept after tax
$43,869
Worth in national money
$49,420
State rank
19
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for tax preparers. The median is $53,660, ranking 19 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 493 occupations Iowa reports figures for, this is number 271.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $53,660 you keep $43,869 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $49,420 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for tax preparers: a median of $53,660, ranking 19 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Iowa's occupational distribution, tax preparers sits at 271 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 $43,869 after the full tax stack, from $53,660. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $49,420 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,700 |
| This salary | $53,660 |
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 | $43,869 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,296 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,807 |
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 | $51,884 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,395 |
| 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 preparers in Iowa earn under $53,660 and half over. The published range runs $33,520 at the tenth percentile to $84,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Iowa the take-home figure of $43,869, from $53,660, 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 271 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 $49,420, the adjusted value of that $53,660 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 271 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for tax preparers in Iowa, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,520 to $84,700; 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.
- Take-home for Iowa is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,869 from $53,660. 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 271 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $49,420 — the adjusted value of that $53,660 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 271 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $59,590 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $33,520 at the bottom tenth to $84,700 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Iowa sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $49,420 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $43,869 of this wage survives to your account.
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 48 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 $59,590. 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 ($33,520) and the ninetieth ($84,700) 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 $49,420 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 $43,869 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.