Take-home pay on a $80,000 salary in Iowa
A $80,000 salary in Iowa leaves $62,682 a year after federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Iowa income tax — $5,223 a month, or $2,410.84 in a two-week paycheck. The model is a single filer taking the standard deduction; nothing below is an estimate, it is all worked out from the published tables.
Where every dollar of $80,000 goes
Modelled as a single filer on 2026 rules taking the standard deduction, with no 401(k), no health premiums and no dependents. federal income tax is the heaviest line here at $8,770, and Medicare the lightest at $1,160.
| Line | Per year | Per month | Per 2 weeks | % of gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | $80,000 | $6,667 | $3,076.92 | 100.0% |
| Federal income tax | −$8,770 | −$731 | −$337.31 | 11.0% |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$4,960 | −$413 | −$190.77 | 6.2% |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$1,160 | −$97 | −$44.62 | 1.5% |
| Iowa income tax | −$2,428 | −$202 | −$93.39 | 3.0% |
| Total withheld | −$17,318 | −$1,443 | −$666.08 | 21.6% |
| Take-home pay | $62,682 | $5,223 | $2,410.84 | 78.4% |
The federal income tax on $80,000, bracket by bracket
Federal tax is never one rate on the whole salary. The $16,100 standard deduction comes off first — that is 20.1% of $80,000, a meaningful slice, though a smaller share of pay than it is further down this ladder — leaving $63,900 of taxable income to be sliced across three bands. Only the last slice is taxed at your top rate of 22%.
| Federal band | Rate | Income taxed here | Tax from this band |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 – $12,400 | 10% | $12,400 | $1,240 |
| $12,400 – $50,400 | 12% | $38,000 | $4,560 |
| $50,400 – $105,700 | 22% | $13,500 | $2,970 |
| Total | $63,900 | $8,770 |
Federal tax on $80,000 totals $8,770, which is 11.0% of gross pay even though the top band reached is 22%. The gap between those two numbers is the whole point of a graduated system.
The Iowa income tax on $80,000, worked out
Iowa has one rate, 3.8%, and no ladder to climb. It subtracts $16,100 first, leaving $63,900 of Iowa taxable income, and charges the same rate on every dollar of it. That is the federal standard deduction to the dollar, so the Iowa and federal taxable figures on this page are the same $63,900 and the only thing separating the two bills is the rate applied to them.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $80,000 |
| Less what Iowa subtracts first | −$16,100 |
| Iowa taxable income | $63,900 |
| Iowa rate, on all of it | 3.8% |
| Iowa income tax | $2,428 |
Iowa income tax on $80,000 totals $2,428, 3.0% of gross pay. The only gap between that share and the 3.8% headline is the $16,100 subtracted above.
What applies to you at $80,000, and what does not
What the $62,682 above does not account for
The $62,682 above is what $80,000 leaves after federal withholding, FICA and Iowa state withholding, and nothing else. Anything a city, county or school district levies on wages sits outside that figure, and whether any of it reaches your paycheck is a municipal question rather than a state one — so it is not modelled here. Iowa's own published position is below.
Iowa school districts levy a local income surtax assessed as a percentage of state income tax liability (up to 20%), not of income. About 87% of districts impose it; the income-weighted average is roughly 0.3%. Six counties (Appanoose, Cass, Pocahontas, Sac, Shelby, Winnebago) also use a surtax for EMS. It is filed with the state IA 1040 return based on the district you reside in on the last day of the tax year.
A bonus is withheld differently from a raise in Iowa
Iowa withholds supplemental wages — a bonus, a commission, a payout — at a flat 3.8%, not at the rate the rest of your pay is charged. That is exactly the rate your salary is charged at this rung, so a bonus and a raise are withheld identically here. On $1,000 of bonus it is the difference between $38.00 and $38.00 of Iowa withholding. Withholding is not the tax: what you owe is settled on the return either way.
What Iowa's flat rate costs on $80,000
Iowa has no bracket ladder to climb. One rate, 3.8%, applies to every taxable dollar, so unlike the federal schedule above there is no band edge anywhere near $80,000 and no step for a raise to fall over: the first taxable dollar and the last are charged identically, and the $2,428 of Iowa income tax on this salary is simply 3.8% of $63,900.
Iowa subtracts $16,100 before that rate touches anything, which is 20.1% of a $80,000 salary. That is the only thing on the state side that changes as you climb this ladder: the subtraction is a fixed number of dollars, so it covers a smaller share of pay at every rung, and the effective Iowa rate here — 3.0% of gross — creeps toward the 3.8% headline without ever reaching it.
If you are 65 or over, $80,000 has already cut your senior deduction
OBBBA's $6,000-per-person senior deduction starts shrinking above $75,000 of modified AGI, at 6.0% of every dollar over the line. At $80,000 you are $5,000 into that phase-out, leaving roughly $5,700 of the deduction, and it disappears entirely at $175,000. The figures on this page do not include it — they model a filer under 65 — but it is the one deduction at this income level that a raise quietly erodes.
Where Iowa ranks on $80,000
Run the same $80,000 through all fifty states and the District of Columbia and Iowa comes 15 from the top on take-home pay — 37 from the bottom — keeping $62,682. The jurisdictions immediately above it at this salary are Louisiana and Indiana; immediately below are Mississippi and Arkansas. Texas tops the table at $65,110, $2,428 more than Iowa on identical gross pay, and Oregon is last at $58,124. That ranking is specific to $80,000: flat-rate and graduated states change places as income rises, so Iowa's neighbours on this table are different at other salaries.
What the step either side of $80,000 is worth
The last step, $70,000 to $80,000, was worth $10,000 of gross and $6,655 of it reached you: 66.5% survived. The next one, up to $100,000, is worth $20,000 of gross and $13,310 of take-home — $1,109 a month, or 66.5% of the raise. Neither schedule can leave you worse off for earning more; a rate only ever touches the income sitting inside its own band.
The childcare credit rate that $80,000 buys you
Qualifying childcare costs earn a credit worth a percentage of the spend, on expenses of up to $3,000 for a single dependent and $6,000 where there are two or more. Which percentage you get depends on what you earn. At $80,000 it is 33.0%: you are on the second slide, which OBBBA added above $75,000: another point off for every $2,000 of income, bottoming out at 20.0% at $105,000. The credit is nonrefundable and is not modelled in the take-home figures above, which assume no dependents.
The federal band that governs a raise at $80,000
At $80,000 the next dollar lands in the band immediately above the wide one below it, and the jump between those two is the largest single step in the federal schedule. That is the step people feel when a raise disappoints them: the raise did not shrink, the rate on the part of it above the band edge went up. There is $41,800 of room left in the band, so roughly $41,800 of further salary is charged at this rate before any of it meets the next one.
The federal tips and overtime break, and what Iowa does with it
The tips and overtime deductions described on this page are federal. On the state return Iowa treats them alike: it follows the federal tips and overtime deductions.
Iowa conforms (federal-taxable-income base); the deductions flow through to the state return.
$80,000 beside the Iowa minimum wage
The minimum wage in Iowa is $7.25 an hour, which is $15,080 a year at forty hours a week. $80,000 is 5.3 times that. Run the floor through the same engine and it keeps $13,926 of that $15,080 — 7.7% withheld — against 21.6% at $80,000. The gap between those two shares is the graduated system doing its work: the extra $64,920 of gross is charged at higher rates than the first $15,080 ever is.
Iowa has no state minimum wage above the federal floor, so the federal $7.25/hour applies in 2026.
The same $80,000 on the other filing statuses
Your filing status moves the standard deduction and stretches every federal band, and on $80,000 that is worth having: filing jointly on this same salary leaves $4,142 more in the year than filing single, and head of household $2,728 more. The FICA lines are the same on every row, because Social Security and Medicare do not ask about marital status.
| Filing status | Federal tax | IA income tax | Take-home a year | Share withheld |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single / Married filing separately | $8,770 | $2,428 | $62,682 | 21.6% |
| Married filing jointly | $5,240 | $1,816 | $66,824 | 16.5% |
| Head of household | $6,348 | $2,122 | $65,410 | 18.2% |
How this figure was computed
These figures are generated, not written: the 2026 tax data file in this repository goes into the same engine that powers the Iowa paycheck calculator, and the page is rebuilt from the result.
- Gross
- $80,000 a year, spread evenly: $38.46 an hour, $3,076.92 a fortnight.
- Federal
- 2026 brackets on $63,900 taxable (gross less the $16,100 standard deduction), Rev. Proc. 2025-32 → $8,770.
- FICA
- Social Security $4,960 on all of $80,000, under the $184,500 base. Medicare $1,160.
- Iowa
- 3.8% on $63,900 ($80,000 less the $16,100 Iowa subtracts first) → $2,428.
What this does not include
- What the figures do not touch. Pre-tax money of any kind — 401(k), HSA, FSA, health premiums — plus credits, dependants, itemising, non-wage income and the employer's own FICA share.
- What is specifically live at $80,000. None of the following is in the take-home figure above, and all of it is real at this income: the partially phased-out senior deduction (if you are 65 or over); the Child and Dependent Care Credit, whose rate at this income is set by the §21 schedule described above.
- Iowa's small personal-exemption tax credits ($40 single / $80 MFJ / $40 per dependent) are post-tax credits and are not modeled.
A computed estimate, not tax advice. Your own W-4, benefits and credits move the number.
Frequently asked questions
What is the take-home pay on a $80,000 salary in Iowa?
About $62,682 a year for a single filer taking the standard deduction, after federal income tax of $8,770, Social Security of $4,960, Medicare of $1,160 and Iowa income tax of $2,428. In total 21.6% of gross pay is withheld.
How much is $80,000 a year per month after taxes in Iowa?
$5,223 a month, $2,410.84 on a fortnightly cycle and $2,611.74 paid twice a month. Federally you are in the 22% bracket, and Iowa charges its single 3.8% rate, though neither applies to the whole salary.
I am over 65 — is the senior deduction worth anything at $80,000?
Some of it. It starts at $6,000 per person and comes down by 6.0% of every dollar of modified AGI over $75,000, leaving roughly $5,700 at $80,000. The figures on this page model a filer under 65 and do not include it.
How much more would I keep on $100,000 instead of $80,000?
$13,310 more a year, $1,109 a month. That is 66.5% of the $20,000 raise; the rest goes to federal tax, FICA and Iowa withholding.
Is $80,000 a good salary in Iowa?
Context, not advice: a single earner on $80,000 is above Iowa's median HOUSEHOLD income of $75,501, which often covers two earners. Housing cost is not modelled anywhere here.
Is this what I will actually see on my payslip?
Close, but not to the cent. The model is a single filer on the standard deduction with nothing pre-tax and nobody to claim, so a real W-4, real benefits and real dependants all shift it. Put your own figures into the Iowa paycheck calculator.
Sources
- Iowa: source for the state figures on this page
- IRS: 2026 inflation-adjusted tax brackets
- IRS: Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 brackets, all statuses)
- Social Security Administration: Contribution and Benefit Base
- IRS: Topic no. 751, Additional Medicare Tax
Federal figures were last verified 2026-08-14.
Found an error? See our corrections log or contact us.