Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in Iowa
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,985
after federal, FICA and Iowa tax
Tax takes
$9,215
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,298
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
$51,200
Kept after tax
$41,985
Worth in national money
$47,298
State rank
3
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Iowa's middle earner gets $51,200, putting the state 3 of 47 — about 18.03% ahead of the national figure.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 285 among 493 occupations Iowa publishes pay for.
- Here is where Iowa does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,200 you keep $41,985, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $47,298 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing, Iowa sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $51,200, ranking 3 of 47 and running about 18.03% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Position 285 of 493 in Iowa places woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing 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.
- After federal, FICA and Iowa income tax, retained pay for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing on $51,200 is $41,985. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $47,298 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $51,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,480 |
| This salary | $51,200 |
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 | $41,985 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,720 |
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 | $49,540 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,289 |
| 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 $51,200. The published range is $39,540 up to $57,480, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Iowa's $41,985, worked from $51,200. 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 285 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Iowa, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,298, the adjusted value of that $51,200 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 285 of 493 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in Iowa the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,540 to $57,480. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Iowa take-home of $41,985, on $51,200 for work ranking 285 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 285 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Iowa, so $47,298 — the adjusted value of that $51,200 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 285 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,540 at the bottom tenth to $57,480 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $47,298.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa's own levy, $41,985 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,540 to $57,480) 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 $47,298 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 $41,985 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.