$40,000 after tax in Iowa (2025)

Tax year 2025, single filer, standard deduction. Every bracket, payroll contribution and surtax, and where the money is spent.

Take-home
$32,749
on $40,000 in Iowa
Total tax
$7,252
39th lowest of 51
Effective rate
18.13%
of gross income
Marginal rate
15.90%
on your next dollar

On a $40,000 salary in Iowa, you keep $32,749 after income tax and payroll contributions. That is an effective rate of 18.13%. Every extra dollar you earn is taxed at 15.90%.

Of that, $1,480 goes to Iowa and the rest to the federal government.

Among the 51 US states and DC, Iowa ranks 39th lowest at this income. The same salary would cost $5,732 in Alaska and $8,579 in New York, a spread of $2,847 a year.

Your $7,252 funds benefits & pensions more than anything else ($1,663), followed by health ($1,658) and debt interest ($918).

What you pay

Every charge, at every level of government.

ChargeAmount
Social Securityfederal · 6.20%$2,480.00
Medicarefederal · 1.45%$580.00
Federal income taxfederal · 12.00%$2,671.50
Iowa income taxstate · 3.80%$1,480.00
Local income tax (estimate)local · 0.10%$40.00
Total tax$7,251.50

Where your tax goes

Your $7,252 apportioned across what these governments actually budget to spend.

ProgrammeYour share
Medicare and Medicaidfederal · 19.08%Health coverage for people over 65 and for people on low incomes. Together they are the largest single thing the federal government buys.$1,383.23
Social Security retirement and survivorsfederal · 15.24%Monthly benefits to retired workers, their spouses and survivors. Funded by the payroll tax you pay separately.$1,105.46
Interest on the national debtfederal · 12.66%Interest on accumulated federal borrowing. It buys nothing, being the price of past deficits, and it is now the single largest line in the federal budget.$918.08
Public welfare and social servicesstate · 6.92%$501.98
Department of Veterans Affairsfederal · 4.05%Veterans' health care, disability compensation and pensions.$293.72
K-12 educationstate · 3.70%$268.39
Military operations and maintenancefederal · 3.68%Running the armed forces day to day: training, fuel, maintenance, bases.$267.06
IRS and refundable tax creditsfederal · 3.03%Collecting tax, and paying out refundable credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable part of the Child Tax Credit.$219.78
Hospitalsstate · 2.47%$179.10
Department of Agriculturefederal · 2.45%SNAP food assistance, school meals, farm support and the Forest Service.$177.38
Military personnelfederal · 2.22%Pay and allowances for service members.$161.06
Other and unallocatedstate · 2.02%$146.84
Highways and roadsstate · 1.97%$142.60
Colleges and universitiesstate · 1.83%$132.99
Weapons and equipment procurementfederal · 1.74%Buying aircraft, ships, vehicles and munitions.$126.35
Social Security disability insurancefederal · 1.72%Benefits for workers who can no longer work because of disability.$124.64
Defence research and developmentfederal · 1.52%Developing and testing new military technology.$110.29
Office of Personnel Managementfederal · 1.38%Federal civilian employee retirement and health benefits.$100.02
Department of Transportationfederal · 1.37%Highways, transit, aviation and rail.$99.51
Department of Homeland Securityfederal · 1.24%Border and immigration enforcement, FEMA, the Coast Guard and the TSA.$89.93
Other Defense Civil Programsfederal · 0.82%Military retirement and related trust funds.$59.66
Supplemental Security Incomefederal · 0.75%Payments to people over 65 or with disabilities who have very little income.$54.07
Department of Energyfederal · 0.56%The nuclear weapons complex, national laboratories and energy research.$40.78
Department of Housing and Urban Developmentfederal · 0.54%Rental assistance, public housing and community development.$39.41
Department of Laborfederal · 0.54%Unemployment insurance, worker protection and job training.$39.30
National Institutes of Healthfederal · 0.51%Medical and biomedical research.$36.88
Department of Justicefederal · 0.48%The FBI, DEA, federal prisons and US attorneys.$35.06
University auxiliary servicesstate · 0.47%$33.75
Environmental Protection Agencyfederal · 0.40%Clean air and water enforcement, and Superfund cleanups.$28.84
Department of Educationfederal · 0.37%Student aid, and funding for schools serving low-income students.$27.08
Department of Commercefederal · 0.32%The Census, NOAA, the Patent Office and economic development.$23.17
Department of Statefederal · 0.31%Embassies, diplomacy and foreign assistance.$22.12
Public health servicesstate · 0.28%$20.05
Prisons and correctionsstate · 0.28%$20.04
Financial administrationstate · 0.28%$20.01
National Aeronautics and Space Administrationfederal · 0.26%Space exploration and science.$19.17
Courts and legal servicesstate · 0.25%$18.45
Department of the Interiorfederal · 0.24%National parks, public lands and tribal programmes.$17.47
Housing and community developmentstate · 0.20%$14.46
International Assistance Programsfederal · 0.19%Foreign aid, development finance and the Peace Corps.$13.49
Military construction and housingfederal · 0.17%Building and maintaining bases and family housing.$12.56
Health Resources and Services Administrationfederal · 0.16%Community health centres, rural health and the organ transplant system.$11.77
Corps of Engineersfederal · 0.13%Flood control, waterways and harbours.$9.46
Centers for Disease Controlfederal · 0.12%Disease surveillance, outbreak response and immunisation.$8.89
HHS departmental managementfederal · 0.12%Running the department.$8.42
State policestate · 0.11%$8.30
National Science Foundationfederal · 0.11%Basic scientific research grants.$7.76
Judicial Branchfederal · 0.10%The federal courts.$7.61
Indian Health Servicefederal · 0.09%Health care for American Indian and Alaska Native people.$6.47
Substance abuse and mental healthfederal · 0.09%Addiction treatment and community mental health services.$6.47
Legislative Branchfederal · 0.08%Congress, the GAO and the Library of Congress.$5.64
Independent Agenciesfederal · 0.07%Smaller independent federal agencies.$5.29
Inspection and regulationstate · 0.05%$3.96
Food and Drug Administrationfederal · 0.04%Drug, device and food safety regulation.$2.57
Other HHS programmesfederal · 0.04%Remaining public health and human services programmes.$2.57
Central staff servicesstate · 0.03%$2.48
Administration for Community Livingfederal · 0.03%Services for older adults and people with disabilities.$2.34
Government buildingsstate · 0.03%$2.28
Parks and recreationstate · 0.03%$1.94
Airportsstate · 0.01%$0.75
Natural resources and conservationstate · 0.01%$0.74
Small Business Administrationfederal · 0.01%Small business lending and disaster loans.$0.65
Librariesstate · 0.01%$0.46
Solid waste managementstate · 0.00%$0.26
Veterans servicesstate · 0.00%$0.12
Seweragestate · 0.00%$0.05

United States federal government FY2025: US Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement Table 5, net outlays by agency for the fiscal year ended 2025-09-30, with the four largest agencies split into their published components.

IA 2023: US Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Finances, table GS00SG01.

  • Allocation is proportional to published spending, not a trace of your actual dollars. No specific payment funds a specific programme.
  • Governments run deficits, so total spending exceeds total tax revenue. These shares show the composition of spending, not a balanced ledger.

What to check before trusting this

  • Some school districts levy a surtax. An estimate at the state's average local rate of 0.10% is shown separately; your actual rate depends on where you live.
  • Iowa's personal exemption is a $40 credit against tax, not a deduction from income.
  • State figures are for tax year 2025 and every one has been cross-checked against the state's own published schedule or its enacting legislation (audited 2026-09-08). Confirm against the state revenue department before filing.

Common questions

How much is $40,000 after tax in Iowa in 2025?
$32,749. Income tax and payroll contributions come to $7,252, an effective rate of 18.13%.
What is the 2025 marginal tax rate in Iowa?
15.90% at $40,000 of income. That is the rate on your next dollar earned, combining federal and regional rates.
Is Iowa a high-tax state in 2025?
At $40,000 it ranks 39th lowest of 51. The cheapest is Alaska at $5,732, the most expensive New York at $8,579.