Salaries in Iowa by job

Median annual wages in Iowa for 54 occupations, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025).

Across all occupations, the Iowa median is 5% below the U.S. median.

Job	Median a year	vs U.S.
Family doctor / GP	$265,000	+9%
Dentist	$182,000	+6%
Pharmacist	$139,000	−2%
Airline pilot	$132,000	−43%
Marketing manager	$131,000	−21%
Actuary	$129,000	−1%
Veterinarian	$125,000	−4%
Lawyer	$124,000	−23%
Software developer	$115,000	−16%
Electrical engineer	$106,000	−12%
Mechanical engineer	$98,000	−6%
Physical therapist / physiotherapist	$98,000	−5%
Architect	$97,000	−3%
Project manager	$97,000	−6%
Civil engineer	$96,000	−4%
Data scientist	$96,000	−20%
Financial analyst	$92,000	−10%
Psychologist	$92,000	−9%
General / operations manager	$88,000	−17%
Management consultant / analyst	$86,000	−16%
Network / systems administrator	$84,000	−15%
Dental hygienist	$84,000	−14%
Registered nurse	$79,000	−19%
Accountant / auditor	$77,000	−7%
Police officer	$74,000	−2%
Sales representative (B2B)	$67,000	−7%
HR specialist	$67,000	−12%
Web developer	$64,000	−31%
Plumber	$64,000	same
High school teacher	$61,000	−15%
Electrician	$61,000	−4%
Paramedic	$61,000	same
Elementary school teacher	$61,000	−5%
IT support specialist	$59,000	−5%
Truck driver (heavy)	$58,000	−1%
Carpenter	$58,000	−5%
Firefighter	$56,000	−6%
Welder	$55,000	+2%
Paralegal	$55,000	−13%
Social worker	$52,000	−12%
Auto mechanic	$51,000	same
Graphic designer	$50,000	−20%
Construction laborer	$48,000	+3%
Bookkeeper	$48,000	−5%
Chef / head cook	$48,000	−23%
Customer service representative	$46,000	+3%
Administrative assistant	$45,000	−5%
Warehouse worker	$43,000	+8%
Nursing assistant	$39,000	−7%
Hairdresser / stylist	$36,000	same
Cook	$36,000	−5%
Retail salesperson	$31,000	−11%
Cashier	$29,000	−12%
Childcare worker	$28,000	−19%

Annual wages, all industries, full- and part-time workers, before tax. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. The last column shows how the Iowa median compares with the national median for the same occupation. Not published for Iowa: real estate agent.

Salary Predictor, our iPhone app, uses these tables to estimate pay for a given age, education and experience.

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Other states

All jobs in the United States

Sources

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: national estimates. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025.
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics: state estimates. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025.
Educational attainment for workers 25 years and older by detailed occupation (Table 5.3). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2023-2024.
PINC-03: Educational attainment by total money earnings, work experience and age. U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2026 ASEC, 2025 earnings.

U.S. data are works of the U.S. federal government and in the public domain.