Median pay · Iowa
$35,920A year, or $17 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $28,120 | $14 |
| 25th percentile | $30,750 | $15 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $35,920 | $17 |
| 75th percentile | $37,350 | $18 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $45,370 | $22 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $36,040 | $17 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in IowaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$35,920
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$17.27
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$2,527 a month at an effective rate of 15.6%.$30,329 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Iowa sit at 87.8 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$40,929
- Against the national medianThe national median is $35,830.0.3% above
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.1 against the nation's 1.00.4,190
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.
- 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 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $35,920 in Iowa, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
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 $35,920 is worth in Iowa
Prices in Iowa sit at 87.8 against a national average of 100, so $35,920 earned here buys what $40,929 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 0.48 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 10% more concentrated in Iowa than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for vehicle cleaners 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 $35,920 median buys roughly what $40,929 would at national prices, $5,009 more.
The top of the pay range is stretched out. Going from the 75th to the 90th percentile adds $8,020, against $1,430 from the median to the 75th. The best-paid 10% of vehicle cleaners in Iowa make $45,370 or more.
The median for this job is 0.5 times the median household income in Iowa ($75,059). Many households have two earners, so one paycheck at this level falls short of what a typical local household brings in.
Common questions
Vehicle Cleaner pay in Iowa, answered
How much does a vehicle cleaner make in Iowa?
The median wage for vehicle cleaners in Iowa is $35,920 a year, or $17.27 an hour.
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 vehicle cleaner salary in Iowa?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for vehicle cleaners in Iowa is $36,040 a year. The median is $35,920.
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 hourly pay for a vehicle cleaner in Iowa?
The median hourly wage is $17.27. At a full-time year that lines up with about $35,920 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for a vehicle cleaner 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 vehicle cleaners earn under $28,120 a year and a quarter earn under $30,750 ($13.52 and $14.79 an hour).
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 a vehicle cleaner in Iowa?
The overall salary range for vehicle cleaners in Iowa spans from $28,120 for the bottom 10% to $45,370 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $30,750 and $37,350 a year, with the overall median at $35,920.
What is the take-home pay for a vehicle cleaner in Iowa?
On the median wage of $35,920, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $30,329 a year, or roughly $2,527 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.6%.
Iowa takes $713 of it in state income tax.
How much does a vehicle cleaner make a month in Iowa?
On the median annual salary of $35,920, estimated take-home pay is roughly $2,527 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 $1,166 net.
Do vehicle cleaners earn more in Iowa than in the rest of the country?
Yes. The median in Iowa is 0.3% above the national median of $35,830.
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 $35,920 a good salary in Iowa?
It is 0.48 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 $35,920 here buys about what $40,929 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid vehicle cleaners earn in Iowa?
The top tenth earn $45,370 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $28,120.
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 vehicle cleaners are there in Iowa?
The survey counted 4,190 of these jobs in Iowa for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 10% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.