Iowa · BLS May 2025

How much do sociology teachers, postsecondary make in Iowa?

Sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa earn a median of $81,910 a year, about $5,333 a month after federal, state and FICA tax. Figure from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey. The survey counted 140 of these jobs in Iowa in May 2025.

Median pay · Iowa

$81,910A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.
Take-home a month$5,333After federal, state and FICA tax at 21.9%
Worth at national prices$93,332Prices here sit at 87.8 against 100
Against the nation2.8% belowNational median $84,290
What sociology teachers, postsecondary earn in Iowa, May 2025
PercentileAnnualHourly
10th percentile1 in 10 earn less$49,460Not published
25th percentile$65,270Not published
MedianHalf earn more, half less$81,910Not published
75th percentile$122,310Not published
90th percentile1 in 10 earn more$150,230Not published
MeanAll pay divided by all jobs$92,520Not published

Wage survey · BLS May 2025

How we got this
  1. Median wage in IowaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$81,910
  2. Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$5,333 a month at an effective rate of 21.9%.$63,993 a year
  3. Worth at national average pricesPrices in Iowa sit at 87.8 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$93,332
  4. Against the national medianThe national median is $84,290.2.8% below
  5. Jobs countedA concentration of 1.21 against the nation's 1.00.140
What we assumed
  • Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
  • OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
  • Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
  • BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
  • Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details

Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1

What lands in the bank

Tax year 2026 · Interactive

Estimated on the median salary of $81,910 in Iowa, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.

$81,910
$45,000$155,000
Filing status:
Gross salary breakdown$81,910
Net 78%
Fed 11%
IA 3%
FICA 8%
Annual take-home$63,993After all taxes
Monthly deposit$5,333Estimated per month
Biweekly paycheck$2,461Every 2 weeks (26/yr)
Effective tax rate21.9%Total tax burden
Federal income tax$9,190 / yr
Iowa state income tax$2,461 / yr
FICA (Social Security & Medicare)$6,266 / yr

Run the numbers on your own pay

Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.

What $81,910 is worth in Iowa

Prices in Iowa sit at 87.8 against a national average of 100, so $81,910 earned here buys what $93,332 buys at national average prices.

  • Rents. 65.3 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
  • Against local households. The median household in Iowa takes in $75,059, so this occupation's median is 1.09 times that, on one income.
  • How common the job is here. 21% more concentrated in Iowa than in the country as a whole.

Compare two places properly →

Reading the numbers

What stands out for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa

Rents in Iowa index at 65.3 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 87.8, a gap of -22.4 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.

Prices in Iowa index at 87.8 (U.S. = 100), so the $81,910 median buys roughly what $93,332 would at national prices, $11,422 more.

Even the lowest-paid 10% of sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa make at least $49,460 a year.

Common questions

Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary pay in Iowa, answered

How much do sociology teachers, postsecondary make in Iowa?

The median wage for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa is $81,910 a year.

Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.

What is the average Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary salary in Iowa?

BLS’s mean (average) wage for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa is $92,520 a year. The median is $81,910.

The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.

What is the starting salary for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa?

BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Iowa, the lowest-paid 10% of sociology teachers, postsecondary earn under $49,460 a year and a quarter earn under $65,270.

New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.

What is the salary range for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa?

The overall salary range for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa spans from $49,460 for the bottom 10% to $150,230 for top earners.

The middle 50% earn between $65,270 and $122,310 a year, with the overall median at $81,910.

What is the take-home pay for sociology teachers, postsecondary in Iowa?

On the median wage of $81,910, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $63,993 a year, or roughly $5,333 a month.

That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 21.9%.

Iowa takes $2,461 of it in state income tax.

How much does sociology teachers, postsecondary make a month in Iowa?

On the median annual salary of $81,910, estimated take-home pay is roughly $5,333 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.

For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $2,461 net.

Do sociology teachers, postsecondary earn more in Iowa than in the rest of the country?

No. The median in Iowa is 2.8% below the national median of $84,290.

Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Iowa sit at 87.8 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.

Is $81,910 a good salary in Iowa?

It is 1.09 times the median household income of $75,059. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.

Prices in Iowa run at 87.8 against a national average of 100, with rents at 65.3, so $81,910 here buys about what $93,332 buys at national average prices.

What do the highest-paid sociology teachers, postsecondary earn in Iowa?

The top tenth earn $150,230 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $49,460.

Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Iowa someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.

How many sociology teachers, postsecondary are there in Iowa?

The survey counted 140 of these jobs in Iowa for May 2025.

That makes the occupation 21% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.

Sources

Where this data comes from

Notice a discrepancy with official data? Report an issue to hello@costanswer.com ↗