What is the median Iowa salary in 2026?

Iowa's median household income lands near $71,000 — close to $9,000 below the US median ($80,000) but above peers like Missouri ($67K) and Kentucky ($63K). Per-capita personal income ~$62,000. Statewide medians; West Des Moines, Clive, Waukee, and Iowa City's Manville Heights run 60-100% higher; rural northern counties (Worth, Mitchell, Howard) and southern counties (Wayne, Decatur, Ringgold) run 30-40% lower. The phrase 'average IA salary' usually conflates median with arithmetic mean — pulled up by Principal Financial executive comp, John Deere senior engineering, and Collins Aerospace classified-program premiums.

Did Iowa really become a flat-tax state?

Yes — under HF 2317 (signed 2022) and the 2024 acceleration. The phase-down landed at flat 3.8% for tax year 2026 and forward. Schedule: 8.53% top with 9 brackets (2022) → 6% (2023) → 5.7% (2024) → 4.82% (2025) → 3.8% flat (2026). One of the most aggressive state-tax overhauls in modern US history. Iowa joins Indiana (2.95%) and North Carolina (3.99%) as one of the lowest flat-rate states in the country. The state legislature has shown no appetite for reversal — the rate cuts have been broadly popular across both major parties in Iowa.

How does IA compare to MN, WI, MO, IN for take-home?

Iowa's flat 3.8% is the lowest among the four-state Midwest comparison at $100K single: IA saves $2,182 vs MN, $1,786 vs WI, $581 vs MO; IA lags IN state-only by $267. The all-in picture: IN's Marion County (Indianapolis) 2.02% LIT puts Indianapolis residents below IA; MO's KC and STL 1% earnings tax tilts city workers below IA. The Quad Cities IA-IL reciprocity gives Davenport / Bettendorf residents working in Moline / Rock Island the cleanest stack in the region — IA's 3.8% with no IL 4.95% applied. For high earners ($200K+), IA's flat 3.8% advantage versus MN's 9.85% top grows substantially — roughly $11,500/year difference at $300K single.

Iowa Salary Guide — 2026

Iowa Salary Guide 2026: Take-Home + Professions

Q: What is Iowa's retirement income exclusion?

Under HF 2317 (effective 2023), Iowa fully excludes pension income, IRA distributions, 401(k) distributions, and other qualified retirement income from IA state tax for filers 55+. Social Security exempt at all ages. A 60-year-old retiree drawing $50K from an IRA plus $30K Social Security pays zero Iowa state income tax. Iowa is one of only two US states (with Mississippi) offering full retirement-income exclusion at this age threshold. Combined with the 3.8% flat during working years, IA is genuinely best-in-class retirement-friendly post-2023 — competitive with FL, TN, TX for retirees willing to accept higher property tax.

Q: How much do Des Moines insurance and finance professionals make?

Des Moines is the US insurance capital outside the Northeast — Principal Financial Group HQ (~7K Des Moines of ~17K worldwide) anchors a deep cluster. Principal CEO Dan Houston tier reached $18M in recent years; senior division presidents clear $1.5-4M. Wells Fargo Des Moines (~13K) senior risk officers and managing-director-equivalent commercial bankers cluster at $250-500K all-in. Nationwide Des Moines (~5K), EMC, Athene, and American Equity Investment Life add another ~10K insurance-finance jobs. Des Moines compensation runs below NYC and Chicago at the executive tier but appreciably above Omaha and Indianapolis on Principal's anchor scale.

Q: Why is Iowa property tax so high?

Iowa relies heavily on local property tax for school funding — the state contributes a smaller share of K-12 funding than most US states. Statewide effective ~1.5% — among the higher Midwest rates. Polk (Des Moines) ~1.50-1.75%, Linn (Cedar Rapids) ~1.45-1.65%, Johnson (Iowa City) ~1.55-1.75%. Iowa applies a residential rollback factor (~54% for 2026) that reduces assessed value before the local mill applies — so nominal mill rates run ~2x the effective rate. On a $300K market-value home, IA homeowners pay $3,600-4,500/year versus $2,000-2,500 on an equivalent Indiana home. The income-tax-versus-property-tax trade-off is the structural Iowa math.

Iowa's salary landscape is anchored by Des Moines's insurance-and-asset-management cluster (Principal Financial HQ, Wells Fargo's largest non-HQ site at ~13K, Nationwide), John Deere's Iowa manufacturing footprint across Waterloo + Davenport + Dubuque, plus Collins Aerospace Cedar Rapids (~9K RTX subsidiary), the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, and Pella Corporation's window-and-door manufacturing. Iowa landed at a flat 3.8% state income tax in 2026 — endpoint of HF 2317's multi-year phase-down from 9 brackets and an 8.53% top in 2022, one of the most aggressive state-tax overhauls in modern US history. Full retirement income exclusion for filers 55+ plus Social Security exemption at all ages makes Iowa one of the most retirement-friendly Midwest states post-2023. The structural offset is property tax — ~1.5% effective statewide, partially softened by the residential rollback. Median household income lands near $71,000.

See Iowa Tax Guide →Iowa Paycheck Calculator →

Section 2

Iowa take-home pay in 2026 at five common salary tiers

Figures use 2026 federal brackets per Rev. Proc. 2025-32, 6.2% Social Security to the $184,500 wage base, 1.45% Medicare, and Iowa's flat 3.8% rate applied to federal taxable income (Iowa has no state standard deduction — federal taxable income flows through after the federal SD of $16,100 single). Single filer, federal standard deduction, zero 401(k). Property tax ~1.5% effective statewide is layered separately and not modeled here.

Gross salary	Take-home (single)	Note
$50,000	$41,067	$3,422/month — workable in Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, or smaller Iowa metros; tight inside West Des Moines's Glen Oaks or Iowa City's Brown Street District.
$75,000	$59,354	$4,946/month — middle of the road statewide; covers Beaverdale in Des Moines, Mount Vernon in Cedar Rapids, or Iowa City's Goosetown comfortably.
$100,000	$75,992	$6,333/month — Des Moines or Iowa City Tier-1 comfort outside the priciest West Des Moines suburbs. IA's flat 3.8% sits below most Midwest peers; the offset is property tax.
$150,000	$108,703	$9,059/month — West Des Moines, Clive, Waukee, Iowa City's Manville Heights, or Coralville accessible. IA stays flat at 3.8% with no progressive escalation.
$200,000	$141,939	$11,828/month after taxes. Additional Medicare 0.9% kicks in above $200K — not yet active at this exact threshold. IA's flat 3.8% benefits high earners most vs progressive peers like MN's 9.85% top.

Two-earner married households see different FICA math because each spouse has their own Social Security wage base. Iowa's flat 3.8% is the lowest in the Midwest except Indiana's 2.95%; high earners capture the biggest absolute benefit versus progressive peers (a $200K MN filer pays roughly $11,500 vs IA's ~$7,000). For filers 55+, the full retirement-income exclusion (HF 2317, effective 2023) plus SS exemption at all ages makes Iowa one of the most retirement-friendly Midwest states. The structural counterweight is property tax — IA averages ~1.5% effective; the residential rollback (~54% for 2026) softens nominal mill rates. Use the calculator at the top for your specific filing status, 401(k), HSA, and retirement-income inputs.

Section 3

Where Iowa's highest salaries cluster — by role and employer

Median compensation bands for senior practitioners and named IA employers. Typical pay ranges, not entry-level — junior versions of each role generally pay 40-60% less.

Principal Financial executive — Des Moines insurance + asset management

$300K – $15M+ all-in

Principal Financial Group HQ Des Moines (~7K Des Moines of ~17K worldwide — insurance, retirement, asset management). CEO Dan Houston tier reached $18M recent years; senior division presidents clear $1.5-4M. Anchors the state's deepest insurance-finance cluster.

Specialty physician (cardiology, oncology, ortho)

$400K – $700K

University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (~12K — state's largest healthcare employer), UnityPoint Health Des Moines + Cedar Rapids, MercyOne, Genesis Health Davenport. UI Hospitals academic cardiothoracic and oncology faculty reach $1M+; private-practice equivalents clear $700K-1M.

Collins Aerospace senior engineer — RTX avionics

$170K – $320K + equity

Collins Aerospace Cedar Rapids (~9K — RTX subsidiary on avionics, communications, flight controls; the country's largest avionics R&D site). Senior systems engineers on commercial avionics (Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and defense communications clear $200-300K plus clearance retention on classified programs.

John Deere senior engineer / executive

$180K – $5M+

John Deere Waterloo (~6K — tractors, company's largest manufacturing site), Davenport Works (~2.5K — construction equipment), Des Moines (financial services). CEO John May reported $26M in 2023 comp; senior engineering directors on autonomous tractor + precision-ag clear $300-500K. See & Spray and autonomous-tractor 2024-2026 rollouts lifted senior agronomy-tech comp.

BigLaw partner — Des Moines equity tier

$250K – $800K+

Faegre Drinker Des Moines, Nyemaster Goode, Belin McCormick, Davis Brown, Dorsey & Whitney. Mid-tier nationally — most partners clear $400-600K; the $800K+ outlier in Principal-and-Deere transactional and financial-regulatory specialties.

Anesthesiologist / Anesthesia CRNA

$420K – $620K (MD) · $200K – $280K (CRNA)

UI Hospitals & Clinics, UnityPoint, MercyOne, Genesis Davenport. IA permits CRNA independent practice (HB 2168 of 2022 expanded scope). CRNAs are the highest-paid nursing specialty.

Wells Fargo Des Moines senior banking / risk

$160K – $300K + equity

Wells Fargo Des Moines (~13K — one of Wells's largest non-HQ sites). Senior risk officers and managing-director-equivalent commercial bankers cluster at $250-500K all-in. Plus EMC Insurance, Nationwide Des Moines (~5K), Athene (~2K), American Equity Investment Life.

Pella / Vermeer senior manufacturing engineer

$150K – $260K

Pella Corporation HQ (~4.5K Pella IA — windows and doors), Vermeer Manufacturing Pella (~3K — ag and industrial equipment, family-owned). Senior product engineers and operations directors cluster at $180-260K. Pella (population ~10K) is the highest manufacturing-engineering concentration per capita in the Midwest.

Senior software engineer — Workiva / Dwolla / corporate tech

$140K – $260K + equity

Workiva Ames + Des Moines (~1.5K — SaaS reporting), Dwolla Des Moines (fintech), Source Allies, Principal tech, John Deere ISG. Iowa software comp runs below Chicago / Minneapolis but ahead of Omaha / KC at staff+ tiers.

Specialty nurse — ICU, ED, OR

$80K – $125K

UI Hospitals, UnityPoint, MercyOne, Genesis. Magnet-hospital differentials add 15-25%; CRNA path adds $80-150K. Iowa hospital comp runs below Chicago, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee on COL offsets — but the 3.8% flat plus 55+ retirement exclusion tilts the lifetime math favorably.

Section 4

And where Iowa pays the least — typical floor jobs

Iowa's state minimum wage remains $7.25 — the federal floor since 2009. IA has not raised the state minimum and the legislature has preempted local-option minimums (a 2017 law voided Polk County and Johnson County local-minimum ordinances). The tipped sub-minimum is $4.35. These bands reflect that low floor plus modest skill premiums and are full-time annualized — many of these jobs run part-time in practice.

Retail cashier / sales associate

$25K – $32K

Hy-Vee (West Des Moines HQ, ~93K total across 8 states; ~10K HQ + Des Moines metro), Casey's General Stores HQ Ankeny (~50K total — gas station + pizza chain), Fareway, Walmart. Hy-Vee's IA HQ scale gives modest premium for full-time hourly.

Food service / fast-food worker

$25K – $33K

Casey's pizza and chain restaurants. IA tipped minimum at $4.35 — higher than federal $2.13 but below MO, IL, MN. Restaurant servers in Des Moines's East Village, Iowa City's Pedestrian Mall, or Cedar Rapids's NewBo often clear $35-50K after tips on volume.

Home health aide / personal care aide

$26K – $34K

Iowa's aging rural population (one of the older Midwest medians) sustains constant home-health demand. BAYADA, BrightStar, Visiting Angels, Honor. Smaller-metro rates run lower than Des Moines + Iowa City.

Childcare worker / preschool aide

$24K – $32K

Bright Horizons, KinderCare, plus thousands of small operators. IA's credential-to-pay ratio is poor; CDA-credentialed aides rarely clear $30K. Iowa's Child Care Workforce Crisis (2022-2024 legislative reports) flagged severe staff shortages at this pay floor.

Hospitality housekeeping / hotel staff

$25K – $32K

Marriott, Hilton, Hotel Renovo Des Moines, Hotel at Kirkwood Center Cedar Rapids, Hotel Vetro Iowa City. Iowa State Fair (~1M visitors over 11 days each August), UI football weekends, and RAGBRAI bicycle ride bump up seasonal hospitality pay above the year-round floor.

Meat processing / pork worker

$36K – $52K

Tyson Foods Sioux City + Storm Lake + Waterloo + Perry (~3-4K Sioux City), Smithfield Denison + Sioux City, Cargill Sioux City. IA processes more pork than any US state (~$8B annually). Pay above retail floor with hazard premiums but turnover is high; immigrant workforce is substantial.

Section 5

Iowa's economy — Des Moines insurance, Cedar Rapids avionics, John Deere manufacturing, and the ag belt

Iowa splits into four practical economic zones. Des Moines metro (Polk + Dallas + Warren + Madison counties) anchors the state's insurance-and-asset-management capital. Principal Financial Group HQ (~7K Des Moines of ~17K worldwide) is the city's largest finance employer; Wells Fargo Des Moines (~13K) anchors banking; Nationwide Des Moines (~5K), EMC Insurance, Athene, American Equity Investment Life round out the insurance cluster. Hy-Vee HQ West Des Moines (~93K total across 8 states), Casey's General Stores HQ Ankeny (~50K total — country's 4th-largest convenience-store chain), and John Deere Des Moines financial services round out corporate Des Moines. West Des Moines, Clive, and Waukee hold the highest-income suburbs.

Cedar Rapids (Linn County) anchors Iowa's avionics cluster — Collins Aerospace Cedar Rapids (~9K, country's largest avionics R&D site, RTX subsidiary) builds commercial avionics for Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 plus defense communications and mission systems. Transamerica Cedar Rapids (~2K, Aegon-owned), Quaker Oats (oldest cereal mill in the US), General Mills, and ACT round out the metro. Iowa City (Johnson County) runs on the University of Iowa (~30K students + ~22K employees including UI Hospitals & Clinics), Pearson, and ACT. Iowa City Tier-2 healthcare and academic medicine offer compensation comparable to larger Midwest research metros at lower cost of living.

John Deere's Iowa footprint spans Waterloo (~6K — tractors, the company's largest manufacturing site), Davenport Works (~2.5K — construction equipment), Des Moines (financial services), Dubuque (~3K), and Ottumwa. Pella holds Pella Corporation HQ (~4.5K — windows and doors) plus Vermeer Manufacturing (~3K — family-owned ag equipment) — the highest manufacturing-engineering concentration per capita in the Midwest. The Quad Cities (Davenport / Bettendorf IA cross-river with Moline / Rock Island IL) hosts John Deere world HQ on the Illinois side; IA-IL reciprocity (the only IA reciprocity) lets the Quad Cities commute work cleanly. Sioux City and Storm Lake anchor pork processing — Iowa processes more pork than any US state.

Section 6

How Iowa tax shapes your actual take-home

Iowa landed at a flat 3.8% state income tax in 2026 — endpoint of HF 2317's multi-year phase-down from 9 brackets and an 8.53% top in 2022. Schedule: 8.53% top (2022) → 6% (2023) → 5.7% (2024) → 4.82% (2025) → 3.8% flat (2026). One of the most aggressive state-tax overhauls in modern US history, on par with North Carolina's 2013 reform but moved faster. Iowa now sits alongside Indiana (2.95%) and North Carolina (3.99%) as one of the lowest flat-rate states in the country. The 2024 acceleration locked the final 2026 rate at 3.8% rather than the originally scheduled 3.9% — saving Iowans about 0.1 percentage point.

Iowa has no state standard deduction. Federal taxable income flows through (after federal SD $16,100 single / $32,200 MFJ for 2026), with IA-specific add-backs and subtractions. The most consequential subtraction: full retirement income exclusion for filers 55+ (HF 2317 provision, effective 2023) — pensions, IRA distributions, 401(k) distributions all IA-tax-free at that age. Social Security is fully exempt at all ages. A 60-year-old drawing $50K from an IRA plus $30K Social Security pays zero Iowa state income tax. Iowa is one of only two US states (with Mississippi) offering a full retirement-income exclusion at this age threshold.

The structural counterweight to the low income tax is property tax. Iowa's statewide effective averages ~1.5% — among the higher Midwest rates, driven by heavy reliance on local property tax for school funding. Polk (Des Moines) ~1.50-1.75%, Linn (Cedar Rapids) ~1.45-1.65%, Johnson (Iowa City) ~1.55-1.75%, Scott (Davenport) ~1.45-1.60%. Iowa applies a residential rollback factor (~54% for 2026) that reduces assessed value before the local mill applies. On a $300K market-value home, IA homeowners typically pay $3,600-4,500/year versus $2,000-2,500 on an equivalent Indiana home. No state estate or inheritance tax (inheritance was repealed under HF 2317).

Section 7

$100,000 in Iowa vs Midwest peer states — same gross, different take-home

Single filer, $100,000 gross, no 401(k), federal standard deduction. State tax only — federal and FICA are identical across all five. Iowa's flat 3.8% is the lowest among the four-state Midwest comparison (MN 9.85% top, WI 7.65% top, MO 4.95% top, IN 2.95% flat). IA-IL reciprocity is the only Iowa reciprocity — Quad Cities cross-river workers benefit.

Iowa (baseline)

Take-home ~$75,992

State tax ~$3,188 (3.8% × $83,900 federal taxable). No state SD beyond federal flow-through. No city or county tax stack.

Minnesota

−$2,182 vs IA

MN progressive top 9.85% (kicks in at $208K single) — effective ~5.6% at $100K. Take-home ~$73,810. MN beats IA on retirement-income exclusion at 65+ but lags below 65.

Wisconsin

−$1,786 vs IA

WI progressive top 7.65% — effective ~5.5% at $100K. Take-home ~$74,206. WI's progressive structure penalizes high earners more than IA's flat.

Missouri

−$581 vs IA

MO 4.95% top after federal liability subtraction effective ~3.8% at $100K. Take-home ~$75,411. KC and STL 1% earnings tax shifts the math for city workers.

Indiana

+$267 vs IA

IN 2.95% flat + county LIT (Marion 2.02%, Hamilton 1.10%). Take-home state-only ~$76,259. Marion (Indianapolis) residents subtract ~$2,000 — IA beats Indianapolis-Marion by ~$1,700 all-in.