Best states for therapist pay / Iowa
Where physical therapists earn the most in Iowa
Sioux City pays the most on paper and still goes furthest, at $112,450 after tax and cost of living. Below it the order reshuffles: $9,770separates the state's metros.
The highest-paying metro for physical therapists in Iowa is Sioux City, at a median of $100,380. Adjusted for Iowa income tax and local cost of living, Sioux City delivers the most real value at $112,450. Across 9 ranked Iowa metro areas, physical therapist pay spans $90,610 to $100,380, a $9,770 difference without leaving the state. Figures are BLS OEWS May 2025 medians adjusted with BEA Regional Price Parities (2024).
Pay after state income tax, divided by local cost of living. Hatched areas have no cost-of-living index.
One dot per metro, sized by how many physical therapists work there.
Hover or tap any area to see its full breakdown.
These are area medians
Your number depends on your experience and practice setting.
See what you should be getting paidEvery Iowa area, ranked
By real value. Each profession ranked on its own.
Physical therapists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux City | $100,380 | $97,217 | 86.5 | $112,450 |
| 2 | Dubuque | $99,840 | $96,698 | 87.3 | $110,730 |
| 3 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | $97,180 | $94,139 | 87.1 | $108,135 |
| 4 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | $99,410 | $96,284 | 89.1 | $108,089 |
| 5 | Omaha | $99,630 | $96,496 | 91.9 | $104,988 |
| 6 | Des Moines-West Des Moines | $97,790 | $94,726 | 91.7 | $103,299 |
| 7 | Cedar Rapids | $94,520 | $91,580 | 89.0 | $102,942 |
| 8 | Iowa City | $94,480 | $91,542 | 91.5 | $100,036 |
| 9 | Ames | $90,610 | $87,819 | 88.8 | $98,861 |
| — | Northwest Iowano COL data | $101,770 | $98,555 | — | — |
| — | Southwest Iowano COL data | $99,060 | $95,948 | — | — |
| — | Southeast Iowano COL data | $98,080 | $95,005 | — | — |
| — | Northeast Iowano COL data | $95,710 | $92,725 | — | — |
Ranked by real value: pay after Iowaincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Occupational therapists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | $98,240 | $95,159 | 87.1 | $109,306 |
| 2 | Dubuque | $94,210 | $91,282 | 87.3 | $104,528 |
| 3 | Sioux City | $92,600 | $89,733 | 86.5 | $103,793 |
| 4 | Omaha | $93,650 | $90,743 | 91.9 | $98,729 |
| 5 | Iowa City | $91,560 | $88,733 | 91.5 | $96,966 |
| 6 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | $87,390 | $84,721 | 89.1 | $95,108 |
| 7 | Cedar Rapids | $79,690 | $77,314 | 89.0 | $86,905 |
| 8 | Des Moines-West Des Moines | $78,770 | $76,429 | 91.7 | $83,345 |
| 9 | Ames | $73,810 | $71,657 | 88.8 | $80,668 |
| — | Southwest Iowano COL data | $101,770 | $98,555 | — | — |
| — | Southeast Iowano COL data | $101,160 | $97,968 | — | — |
| — | Northwest Iowano COL data | $100,120 | $96,967 | — | — |
| — | Northeast Iowano COL data | $93,950 | $91,032 | — | — |
Ranked by real value: pay after Iowaincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Speech-language pathologists
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dubuque | $85,030 | $82,451 | 87.3 | $94,415 |
| 2 | Sioux City | $81,900 | $79,440 | 86.5 | $91,887 |
| 3 | Ames | $83,170 | $80,661 | 88.8 | $90,804 |
| 4 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | $81,050 | $78,622 | 87.1 | $90,311 |
| 5 | Des Moines-West Des Moines | $84,080 | $81,537 | 91.7 | $88,916 |
| 6 | Omaha | $82,650 | $80,161 | 91.9 | $87,216 |
| 7 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | $78,320 | $75,996 | 89.1 | $85,313 |
| 8 | Cedar Rapids | $77,550 | $75,255 | 89.0 | $84,591 |
| 9 | Iowa City | $78,960 | $76,611 | 91.5 | $83,720 |
| — | Northwest Iowano COL data | $82,980 | $80,479 | — | — |
| — | Northeast Iowano COL data | $81,590 | $79,141 | — | — |
| — | Southwest Iowano COL data | $81,500 | $79,055 | — | — |
| — | Southeast Iowano COL data | $81,400 | $78,959 | — | — |
Ranked by real value: pay after Iowaincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Physical therapist assistants
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | $62,850 | $61,114 | 87.1 | $70,199 |
| 2 | Sioux City | $60,530 | $58,882 | 86.5 | $68,108 |
| 3 | Ames | $62,040 | $60,334 | 88.8 | $67,921 |
| 4 | Omaha | $63,470 | $61,710 | 91.9 | $67,141 |
| 5 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | $61,130 | $59,459 | 89.1 | $66,748 |
| 6 | Des Moines-West Des Moines | $61,360 | $59,680 | 91.7 | $65,081 |
| 7 | Cedar Rapids | $58,180 | $56,621 | 89.0 | $63,646 |
| 8 | Iowa City | $58,140 | $56,582 | 91.5 | $61,833 |
| 9 | Dubuque | $51,640 | $50,329 | 87.3 | $57,633 |
| — | Northwest Iowano COL data | $62,420 | $60,700 | — | — |
| — | Southeast Iowano COL data | $62,420 | $60,700 | — | — |
| — | Northeast Iowano COL data | $61,400 | $59,719 | — | — |
| — | Southwest Iowano COL data | $60,890 | $59,228 | — | — |
Ranked by real value: pay after Iowaincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
Occupational therapy assistants
| # | Area | Median | After tax | Cost of living | Real value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omaha | $65,930 | $64,076 | 91.9 | $69,716 |
| 2 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls | $61,560 | $59,873 | 87.1 | $68,774 |
| 3 | Des Moines-West Des Moines | $64,250 | $62,460 | 91.7 | $68,113 |
| 4 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island | $61,510 | $59,824 | 89.1 | $67,159 |
| 5 | Cedar Rapids | $52,560 | $51,215 | 89.0 | $57,568 |
| — | Southeast Iowano COL data | $71,990 | $69,906 | — | — |
| — | Northwest Iowano COL data | $65,290 | $63,461 | — | — |
Ranked by real value: pay after Iowaincome tax, divided by that area's cost of living. Rows marked “no COL data” are BLS nonmetropolitan regions, which BEA publishes no price index for; their pay is shown but they are left unranked rather than compared against a borrowed average.
What PTs in Iowa actually report
9 clinicians have reported pay for Iowa so far, spread across settings, so no single figure is solid enough to publish yet. Outpatient / private clinic is closest at 3 of 5. Federal data has no answer here either: it publishes one number per area for all settings and all experience levels together.
Anonymous and self-reported by clinicians using this tool. A convenience sample, not a probability sample, shown only where at least 5 clinicians have reported. One report per clinician, most recent within three years.
How this is calculated
Median pay is the median annual wage from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (May 2025 release), for each profession in each Iowa area.
After taxsubtracts modeled state income tax for a single filer taking the standard deduction, computed at each area's own median wage rather than copied down from the state figure. Federal tax and FICA are excluded because they don't vary by area, so they don't change the ranking.
Real valuedivides after-tax pay by that metro's own cost of living, using BEA Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100. Metro-grain, not the statewide figure used on the national map.
Map areas are the exact areas BLS reports wages for, built by dissolving Census county boundaries with the BLS OEWS area definitions, so the map and the wage data describe the same geography by construction.
Metros that cross a state line, such as the New York and Philadelphia metros on this page, carry one BLS wage figure covering the whole metro, and their state income tax is modeled at Iowarates, which is the right read for a clinician living on this side of the line. They're marked in the table.
Limits: single filer only; BLS blends full-time, part-time and PRN and every experience level into one median; and 4 nonmetropolitan regions carry BLS pay but no cost-of-living index, so they are shown unranked rather than estimated. This is a comparison of typical pay, not personalized tax advice.
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