Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,093
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$12,617
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,811
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
$65,710
Kept after tax
$53,093
Worth in national money
$59,811
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Iowa sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $65,710, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 171 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $65,710 you keep $53,093 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $59,811 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $66,270, since top earners drag the number up.
- Iowa occupies the middle band for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers: a median of $65,710, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 171 of 493 in Iowa places telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Iowa is $53,093 after the full tax stack, from $65,710. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $59,811 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $66,270 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,620 |
| This salary | $65,710 |
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 | $53,093 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,978 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,235 |
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 | $63,364 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,356 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 89 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Iowa earn less than $65,710. The published range is $45,600 up to $83,620, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $53,093 take-home in Iowa comes from $65,710. 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 171 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,811 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 171.
- Reported values are medians; for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,600 to $83,620. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $53,093, from $65,710, 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 171 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,811, worked from $65,710, 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 171 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,600 at the tenth percentile, $83,620 at the ninetieth.
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 $59,811.
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 $53,093 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,600 to $83,620) 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 $59,811 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 $53,093 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.