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Iowa Paycheck Calculator (2026)

Enter your annual salary below to see your Iowa take-home pay after federal, state, FICA, and any local taxes for 2026.

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Iowa school district surtax coverage is currently limited to Des Moines (DMPS). Residents of other Iowa school districts should check their district's posted rate against the Iowa Department of Revenue's School District Surtax Rates listing.

Quick answer

Iowa applies a flat 3.8% state income tax after a 2022 transition from a progressive schedule under HF 2317. At $85,000 single, the after-tax estimate is $66,009 per year. Des Moines school district surtax adds a small local layer for DMPS residents only, and other Iowa school districts are not modeled by the calculator.

Iowa's flat 3.8% state income tax came out of HF 2317 in 2022, replacing a progressive bracket schedule that previously topped at significantly higher rates. The reform also ended the state's historical federal-tax-deductibility provision, so state taxable income now follows federal AGI without subtracting federal taxes paid. The Iowa workforce concentrates around insurance and agribusiness: Des Moines anchors a Fortune-500 insurance cluster (Principal Financial, EMC Insurance, Wellmark Blue Cross), Cedar Rapids carries Collins Aerospace and the Quaker Oats / PepsiCo plant, Iowa City centers on the University of Iowa and UI Hospitals, the Quad Cities split manufacturing between IA and Illinois, and corn-soy production with ethanol refining anchors rural counties. Iowa school districts may levy a surtax on top of state liability; the calculator wires the Des Moines (DMPS) rate but not the dozens of other district surtaxes. Iowa runs no SDI program and no city wage tax in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport, or Sioux City. At $85,000 single with no DMPS surtax selected, federal income tax lands at $9,870, state income tax at $2,618, combined FICA at $6,503, and take-home for the year at $66,009. The effective total rate is 22.342%. Use the calculator below to add the DMPS surtax or compare Iowa against neighboring Minnesota or Nebraska.

Iowa state tax breakdown

Single-filer state income tax brackets used by the calculator for 2026.

Taxable IncomeRate
$0+3.8%

Cities in Iowa

Local jurisdictions with employee payroll tax. Linked entries have a dedicated city page; others can be selected in the calculator below.

vs. baseline ($85,000 single filer)

A $85,000 salary in Iowa takes home approximately $2,600 less than the same salary in a no-income-tax state like Texas or Florida.

What this estimate includes

This calculator computes Iowa take-home pay using 2026 federal brackets after the standard deduction, FICA contributions (Social Security at the federal rate up to the annual wage base, Medicare on all wages, plus the Additional Medicare Tax above the filing-status threshold), Iowa's state income tax schedule above, and any local income tax or state-administered payroll program (SDI, PFML, FAMLI) when you select a city or county. For states with no broad-based personal income tax, the state line is zero. It excludes employer-side payroll taxes, custom W-4 elections, supplemental-wage handling for bonuses or equity vesting, and income from sources other than W-2 wages.

Iowa paycheck FAQ

What is the federal tax bill on $85,000 single in Iowa for 2026?
A $85,000 single filer in Iowa owes approximately $9,870 in federal income tax, with the top slice of taxable income inside the 22% federal bracket after the standard deduction. Federal mechanics apply identically across all states, so an Iowa resident sees the same federal line as a Minnesota or Nebraska counterpart at this gross.
How much Iowa state tax does someone owe on $85,000?
Iowa state income tax at $85,000 for a single filer is approximately $2,618, an effective state rate of 3.08%. Because the schedule is flat at 3.8%, the marginal and effective rates land at the same headline figure. No SDI deduction applies, and no Iowa city or county adds a separate wage tax above the state line.
Do Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, or any other Iowa city tax wages?
Cities and counties in Iowa do not levy a separate income tax on wages, but school districts often add a surtax on top of state liability. The Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) surtax is wired into the calculator's local layer when DMPS is selected; other Iowa school districts apply their own posted rates that the engine does not yet cover.
How much does a 401(k) contribution save at $85,000 in Iowa?
At $85,000 single in Iowa, the combined marginal rate is 25.8% (federal 22% plus the flat state 3.8%). Pre-tax 401(k) or HSA contributions reduce both federal and Iowa taxable income at that combined rate. The flat state structure keeps the per-dollar saving stable across the salary range, simpler than the progressive math IA ran before 2022.
What changes for married filing jointly, head of household, or filing separately at $85,000 in Iowa?
Filing jointly at $85,000 in Iowa produces take-home of about $70,651, roughly $4,642 more than the single estimate. Wider federal MFJ brackets and the doubled federal standard deduction drive most of the change; Iowa's 3.8% flat rate under HF 2317 is filing-status-neutral, though the state's pension exclusion and a small set of credits scale modestly with household composition. Head of Household clears about $68,931, around $2,922 more than Single, with the gap coming entirely from the wider federal HoH brackets. Combined two-return Married Filing Separately take-home runs roughly $4,642 less than MFJ.
How does Iowa compare to Minnesota at $85,000?
Minnesota runs a progressive schedule topping well above Iowa's flat 3.8%, with the gap widening at higher incomes. The take-home difference between Iowa and Minnesota at $85,000 single is roughly $2,012 per year. Federal tax and FICA are identical between the two; Minnesota also adds a small PFML deduction that Iowa does not levy.

Take-home at common salaries for Iowa

Dedicated salary-anchor pages with a federal-state-FICA breakdown, vs-baseline callouts, and a calculator pre-set to that salary and Iowa.

$50,000 after taxesin Iowa$75,000 after taxesin Iowa$100,000 after taxesin Iowa$150,000 after taxesin Iowa$200,000 after taxesin Iowa$250,000 after taxesin Iowa

See also

Open the national paycheck calculatorCompare to the South Dakota paycheck calculatorCompare to the Minnesota paycheck calculatorRun the same numbers against WisconsinIllinois take-home, for comparisonNebraska take-home, for comparisonWork out per-paycheck pay from an hourly rate in IowaWhat a bonus pays after Iowa withholdingTime and a half after Iowa payroll taxSee how two locations compare on take-homeWhat the terms on your pay stub meanThe math behind these numbers

Reviewed

How This Page Is Reviewed

The Iowa paycheck page is reviewed against primary federal and state sources before each major tax-year update. Source links below are the references used to validate brackets, wage bases, and supported local taxes.

Reviewed by

PaycheckCalc Research Desk

Last reviewed

2026-06-25