How Iowa taxes your paycheck
Iowa keeps it simple: a flat 3.8% income tax. Your state taxable income is your gross pay minus the standard deduction, then the flat rate applies to every dollar above that.
On exemptions: Personal exemption CREDITS against tax (not deductions): $40 single/MFS, $80 MFJ/HOH, $40 per dependent, plus $20 if age 65+ (Iowa Admin. Code 701-304.3). Iowa starts from federal taxable income (Form 1040 line 15), so there is no separate Iowa standard...
What’s taken out of a Iowa paycheck
| Taxable income (single) | Marginal rate |
| Over $0 | 3.8% |
This is a flat-rate schedule: one rate applies to all taxable income (after the standard deduction).
Example: a $75,000 salary in Iowa
On a $75,000 salary as a single filer: federal taxable income is $75,000 − $16,100 = $58,900, giving $7,670 of federal tax. State taxable income is $58,900, giving $2,238 of state tax. FICA takes $4,650 (Social Security) + $1,088 (Medicare). Estimated take-home: $59,354 per year ($2,283 per biweekly paycheck).
| Gross salary | $75,000 |
| Federal income tax | −$7,670 |
| State income tax (IA) | −$2,238 |
| Social Security (6.2%) | −$4,650 |
| Medicare (1.45%) | −$1,088 |
| Estimated take-home | $59,354 |
| Effective tax rate | 20.9% |
Single filer, standard deduction, no pre-tax contributions. The interactive calculator above recomputes this for any salary and filing status.
A note on local taxes in Iowa
No municipal income taxes. Note: a school district income surtax of up to 20% of state income tax liability may apply depending on the taxpayer's school district.
Iowa take-home pay: frequently asked questions
Does Iowa have a state income tax in 2026?
Yes. Iowa has a flat 3.8% income tax in 2026. There is no separate state rate table beyond the flat rate.
What are Iowa's 2026 tax brackets and standard deduction?
A flat 3.8% income tax. Iowa has no standard deduction of its own; the model uses the federal standard deduction ($16,100 single) as a proxy.
What payroll taxes come out of a Iowa paycheck?
No employee-paid state payroll taxes are in the 2026 dataset for Iowa. Federal Social Security and Medicare still apply.
Are there local income taxes in Iowa?
No municipal income taxes. Note: a school district income surtax of up to 20% of state income tax liability may apply depending on the taxpayer's school district.
Are there Iowa tax credits that affect take-home pay?
One to know: Earned Income Credit. 15% of the federal EIC. Credits reduce tax owed rather than taxable income; the calculator above does not model individual credits.
Methodology & sources
State figures come from the site's versioned 2026 tax dataset (v1.0.0, researched 2026-10-11),
regenerated into this page automatically. Model: state taxable income = gross pay minus the state's 2026
standard deduction (Iowa has no standard deduction of its own, so the federal standard deduction is used as a proxy);
state brackets applied marginally; employee-paid state payroll taxes added at their 2026 rates and wage bases
(with published annual caps). Federal tax uses 2026 IRS brackets and standard deductions; FICA uses the 2026
Social Security wage base ($184,500) and Medicare rates. Personal exemption credits/deductions and
individual tax credits are not modeled — the result is an estimate, not a tax return.
State sources
Federal sources
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