Iowa taxes wages at a single rate of 3.8%, which turns a $75,000 salary into $2,595 of state tax and $55,043 of take-home pay. Change the salary, pay frequency, filing status or 401(k) rate to re-run it.
Federal tax, FICA, Iowa state tax & 401(k) — prefilled for Iowa
📈 Live: US inflation is currently 3.4% (CPI, August 2026) — rising prices erode the buying power of your take-home pay, so weigh it when comparing salaries or job offers across states.
Iowa takes $2,595 out of a $75,000 salary, leaving $55,043 against $57,639 in no-wage-tax Texas. The doughnut shows how the rest of that gross divides.
Iowa $55,043 vs Texas $57,639
Iowa: take-home, federal, state & FICA
Calculation parameters: Single filer, zero dependents, zero additional withholdings, $75,000 annual salary, 24 pay periods. State tax estimates account for Iowa's transition to a flat tax rate. Models use current data sourced from the Iowa Department of Revenue.
The Iowa Department of Revenue recently executed a massive overhaul of its tax code, eliminating its historical progressive brackets. As of the most recent legislative changes taking effect for the 2025/2026 tax years, the state transitioned to a highly streamlined flat income tax rate of 3.80%.
Because of this flat-tax conversion, a single earner making $75,000 is taxed at the exact same 3.80% statutory rate as higher-income brackets. Employees must submit the state-specific Form IA W-4 to their payroll department to establish proper withholding allowances, as the new flat rate changes how exemptions mathematically impact net pay compared to the old graduated system.
Iowa prohibits municipalities and counties from levying localized city or county income taxes on individual W-2 wages. An employee commuting into Des Moines or Cedar Rapids takes home the exact same net pay as an employee working in a rural county on an identical salary.
Furthermore, Iowa does not mandate any employee-side payroll deductions for Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) or State Disability Insurance (SDI). Your gross pay is reduced strictly by federal taxes, FICA, and the 3.80% state income tax.
Iowa charges 3.8% on every dollar of taxable income, with no bands to cross, once the $2,210 standard deduction has come off. On $75,000 that works out to $2,595, an effective 3.46% of gross, and nothing at all is due below $2,351.
Annual take-home at six salary points for a single filer deferring 6% into a 401(k). The IA column climbs in a straight line from $1,345 to $7,060, because the same rate applies at both ends.
| Gross salary | Federal tax | IA state tax | FICA | Take-home /yr | Take-home /mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $2,474 | $1,345 | $3,060 | $30,722 | $2,560 |
| $60,000 | $4,730 | $2,059 | $4,590 | $45,021 | $3,752 |
| $80,000 | $8,158 | $2,774 | $6,120 | $58,148 | $4,846 |
| $100,000 | $12,294 | $3,488 | $7,650 | $70,568 | $5,881 |
| $150,000 | $23,087 | $5,274 | $11,475 | $101,164 | $8,430 |
| $200,000 | $34,367 | $7,060 | $14,339 | $132,234 | $11,019 |
| Metric | Iowa | No-tax state (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax (per year) | $2,595 | $0 |
| Federal income tax | $7,124 | $7,124 |
| Social Security + Medicare | $5,738 | $5,738 |
| Annual take-home pay | $55,043 | $57,639 |
| Effective total tax rate | 20.6% | 17.1% |
That $2,595 a year — about $216 a month — is what Iowa's income tax costs against a state that charges none. On this salary it ranks 27th of 51 by state income tax paid, just behind Wisconsin at 3.53%.
Take-home pay is gross salary minus five separate withholdings, each with its own rule and its own base. Two are federal and fixed nationwide, two are FICA payroll taxes with their own ceilings, and one is set by Iowa. Iowa applies a single flat rate of 3.8% to taxable income, so unlike a progressive state your marginal and average state rates converge as income rises. On $65,000 the state takes $2,238, an effective 3.44% of gross. A flat rate makes the arithmetic simple but it applies from the first taxable dollar, so the deduction matters more than the bracket structure. Note also that the 401(k) contribution comes out before federal income tax is computed but not before Social Security and Medicare — a detail that trips up most hand calculations.
Take-home = Gross − 401(k) − Federal income tax − Social Security − Medicare − State taxFederal = brackets applied to (gross − 401(k) − $15,000 standard deduction)State income tax = (gross − 401(k) − state standard deduction) × 3.8%where:
Assumptions: Single filer, standard deduction, 6% traditional 401(k), no other pre-tax benefits, credits or local income tax. Health premiums, HSA contributions and city taxes (where they exist) would each change the result. 2026 federal figures.
ReferenceIRS Publication 15-T
Rather than a round number, this example uses the salary Iowa's own housing costs imply: a median-priced $215,000 home carries a $1,520 monthly payment, and the 28% front-end ratio lenders underwrite to puts that within reach at about $65,000 a year. Here is where that salary actually goes for a single filer contributing 6% to a traditional 401(k).
Result$48,596 a year — $4,050 a month, $1,869 per biweekly cheque
Total tax burden is $12,504, an effective 19.2% of gross — of which Iowa takes 3.44%. The $3,900 401(k) deferral is not a tax; it is still your money.
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