Dubuque, IA Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 87.3) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Dubuque, IA moved from $47,910 in May 2024 to $48,750 in May 2025 (+1.8%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Dubuque, IA sits -1.3 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 20220 · Dubuque, IA $59K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-QUIET · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-MID #234/528
- RPP-QUIET 87.3
- OCC-MID 249 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $310K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -1.3 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Janesville-Beloi…
- BOOK-MOST 247 rows · May 2025
Read with Janesville-Beloit, WI ($3 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Dubuque, IA
Where Dubuque, IA already employs the upper wage tier
Financial Managers and Software Developers lead published employment inside Dubuque, IA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 390 jobs · $126,980
- 2. Software Developers 330 jobs · $105,360
- 3. Project Management Specialists 290 jobs · $104,690
- 4. Architectural and Engineering Managers 230 jobs · $149,300
- 5. Industrial Engineers 230 jobs · $109,040
- 6. Industrial Production Managers 190 jobs · $101,850
- 7. Sales Managers 160 jobs · $130,980
- 8. Managers, All Other 150 jobs · $104,900
- 9. Pharmacists 140 jobs · $145,390
- 10. Nurse Practitioners 130 jobs · $129,620
- 11. Computer and Information Systems Managers 120 jobs · $136,670
- 12. Chief Executives 100 jobs · $212,880
- 13. Lawyers 100 jobs · $109,270
- 14. Marketing Managers 90 jobs · $127,280
- 15. Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers 90 jobs · $116,010
- 16. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 90 jobs · $102,660
- 17. Construction Managers 80 jobs · $102,240
- 18. Human Resources Managers 70 jobs · $129,670
Occupations Tracked
249
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$58,631
employment-weighted, 247 complete rows
Top Salary
$309,930
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
87.3
13% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Dubuque, IA, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial Managers | $126,980 |
| 2 | Software Developers | $105,360 |
| 3 | Project Management Specialists | $104,690 |
| 4 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $149,300 |
| 5 | Industrial Engineers | $109,040 |
| 6 | Industrial Production Managers | $101,850 |
| 7 | Sales Managers | $130,980 |
| 8 | Managers, All Other | $104,900 |
| 9 | Pharmacists | $145,390 |
| 10 | Nurse Practitioners | $129,620 |
| 11 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $136,670 |
| 12 | Chief Executives | $212,880 |
| 13 | Lawyers | $109,270 |
| 14 | Marketing Managers | $127,280 |
| 15 | Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $116,010 |
| 16 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $102,660 |
| 17 | Construction Managers | $102,240 |
| 18 | Human Resources Managers | $129,670 |
| 19 | Administrative Services Managers | $119,770 |
| 20 | Electrical Engineers | $104,290 |
| 21 | Dentists, General | $161,140 |
| 22 | First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives | $113,920 |
| 23 | Physicians, All Other | $309,930 |
| 24 | Physician Assistants | $126,050 |
| 25 | Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | $100,170 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Dubuque, IA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Waiters and Waitresses | $20,060 |
| Bartenders | $21,720 |
| Gambling Dealers | $24,290 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $27,110 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,670 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,340 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $28,680 |
| Dishwashers | $29,380 |
| Animal Caretakers | $29,420 |
| Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs | $29,500 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in IA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside IA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($58,631 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Dubuque, IA wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Dubuque, IA? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Dubuque, IA? ▼
Which federal tables feed Dubuque, IA's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Dubuque, IA wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Dubuque, IA at $309,930/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $58,631 adjusts to about $67,139 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 87.3. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for IA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.