Jobs and pay in Iowa

The highest-paying occupations in Iowa

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

2 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: oral and maxillofacial surgeons, anesthesiologists. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Emergency medicine physicians$429,050
2. Dermatologists$424,970
3. Radiologists$405,220
4. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$394,900
5. Surgeons, all other$370,390
6. Obstetricians and gynecologists$356,020
7. Physicians, pathologists$323,460
8. Psychiatrists$295,270
9. Physicians, all other$295,190
10. Cardiologists$283,070
11. Nurse anesthetists$273,070
12. Family medicine physicians$265,200
13. Pediatricians, general$262,440
14. Chief executives$211,190
15. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$189,410
16. Dentists, general$181,520
17. Physicists$178,110
18. Law teachers, postsecondary$160,700
19. Judges, magistrate judges, and magistrates$147,510
20. Architectural and engineering managers$147,320
21. Computer and information systems managers$143,780
22. Pharmacists$138,860
23. Psychologists, all other$138,420
24. Podiatrists$134,830
25. Physician assistants$134,770

Where the jobs actually are in Iowa

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Cashiers41,450 employed
2. Retail salespersons41,000 employed
3. Fast food and counter workers40,290 employed
4. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers35,040 employed
5. Registered nurses34,420 employed
6. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand30,890 employed
7. General and operations managers30,760 employed
8. Customer service representatives30,100 employed
9. Stockers and order fillers26,770 employed
10. Home health and personal care aides25,800 employed
11. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary24,520 employed
12. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners23,960 employed
13. Office clerks, general23,120 employed
14. Nursing assistants22,670 employed
15. Waiters and waitresses22,410 employed
16. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators19,540 employed
17. Elementary school teachers, except special education17,300 employed
18. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products16,990 employed
19. Maintenance and repair workers, general16,500 employed
20. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks14,020 employed
21. Construction laborers13,780 employed
22. Accountants and auditors13,210 employed
23. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive12,830 employed
24. Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education12,310 employed
25. Cooks, restaurant12,270 employed

The best-paid Iowa work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Transportation inspectors$116,850 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$115,300 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Power distributors and dispatchers$102,980 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Commercial pilots$101,800 · Postsecondary nondegree award
5. Power plant operators$100,500 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$100,200 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$99,010 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$98,840 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels$97,700 · Postsecondary nondegree award
10. Court reporters and simultaneous captioners$93,810 · Postsecondary nondegree award
11. Postmasters and mail superintendents$93,160 · High school diploma or equivalent
12. Gas plant operators$92,970 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Nuclear medicine technologists$92,890 · Associate's degree
14. Air traffic controllers$90,790 · Associate's degree
15. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$90,160 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Locomotive engineers$89,970 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$89,640 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$86,490 · Postsecondary nondegree award
19. Diagnostic medical sonographers$86,480 · Associate's degree
20. Dental hygienists$84,010 · Associate's degree
21. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$83,830 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Boilermakers$82,470 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Fire inspectors and investigators$81,860 · Postsecondary nondegree award
24. Radiation therapists$81,610 · Associate's degree
25. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$81,420 · Associate's degree

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Iowa does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Iowa employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Wind turbine service technicians lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states