Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Salaries

Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 87.1) - BLS OEWS May 2025

Observed metro pay change

What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025

May 2024 → May 2025
  • BLS's published All Occupations median in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA moved from $46,580 in May 2024 to $47,430 in May 2025 (+1.8%).
  • Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
  • Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA sits -1.3 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand publishes $47,440 here versus $40,240 nationally (+17.9%; 2,920metro-area jobs). Next is Retail Salespersons at $31,270 locally versus $35,410 nationally (-11.7%).

  1. Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand$47,440 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA sits 17.9% above the national Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand median of $40,240 (2,920 published local jobs).
  2. Retail Salespersons$31,270 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA sits 11.7% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (2,460 published local jobs).
  3. Fast Food and Counter Workers$27,820 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA sits 10.8% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,500 published local jobs).
  4. Cashiers$29,320 in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA sits 10.8% below the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (2,340 published local jobs).

Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.

BLS OEWS metro wage desk

MSA 47940 · Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA $56K mean

MEAN-LOW · RPP-QUIET · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL

  • MEAN-LOW #335/528
  • RPP-QUIET 87.1
  • OCC-MID 308 occs
  • TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $295K
  • EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
  • TREND-INLINE -1.3 pp
  • PHOTO-FINISH Fayetteville, NC
  • BOOK-FULL 305 rows · May 2025

Read with Fayetteville, NC (+$17 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

Guayama, PR · lowest mean: $32KGuayama, PR · lowest mean$32KHarrisonburg, VA · near: $55KHarrisonburg, VA · near$55KWaterloo-Cedar Falls… · this MSA: $56KWaterloo-Cedar Falls… · this…$56KFayetteville, NC · near: $56KFayetteville, NC · near$56KSouth Central Wiscon… · near: $56KSouth Central Wiscon… · near$56KSpringfield, MO · near: $56KSpringfield, MO · near$56KSan Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · highest mean: $119KSan Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · high…$119K
Read the chart as text
Label Value
Guayama, PR · lowest mean $32K
Harrisonburg, VA · near $55K
Waterloo-Cedar Falls… · this MSA $56K
Fayetteville, NC · near $56K
South Central Wiscon… · near $56K
Springfield, MO · near $56K
San Jose-Sunnyvale-S… · highest mean $119K

Where Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA already employs the upper wage tier

Financial Managers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.

  1. 1. Financial Managers 370 jobs · $125,690
  2. 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 340 jobs · $103,330
  3. 3. Software Developers 280 jobs · $113,970
  4. 4. Nurse Practitioners 260 jobs · $126,330
  5. 5. Postsecondary Teachers, All Other 250 jobs · $103,680
  6. 6. Industrial Production Managers 170 jobs · $102,810
  7. 7. Pharmacists 160 jobs · $138,690
  8. 8. Lawyers 160 jobs · $126,570
  9. 9. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 160 jobs · $103,180
  10. 10. Sales Managers 150 jobs · $125,050
  11. 11. Computer Occupations, All Other 140 jobs · $107,660
  12. 12. Family Medicine Physicians 130 jobs · $287,990
  13. 13. Computer and Information Systems Managers 120 jobs · $132,210
  14. 14. Chief Executives 110 jobs · $199,010
  15. 15. Physicians, All Other 90 jobs · $295,200
  16. 16. First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives 90 jobs · $106,660
  17. 17. Human Resources Managers 80 jobs · $125,970
  18. 18. Marketing Managers 80 jobs · $114,940

Occupations Tracked

308

with wage data

Published-Row Mean

$55,537

employment-weighted, 305 complete rows

Top Salary

$295,200

Physicians, All Other

Cost of Living

87.1

13% below US avg

Price-level adjustment: Dividing the derived published-row mean of $55,537 by the metro RPP gives $63,794 on a national-price basis. This is not an after-tax income or a personal cost-of-living result.

Top-pay occupations in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, 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 $125,690
2 Medical and Health Services Managers $103,330
3 Software Developers $113,970
4 Nurse Practitioners $126,330
5 Postsecondary Teachers, All Other $103,680
6 Industrial Production Managers $102,810
7 Pharmacists $138,690
8 Lawyers $126,570
9 Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary $103,180
10 Sales Managers $125,050
11 Computer Occupations, All Other $107,660
12 Family Medicine Physicians $287,990
13 Computer and Information Systems Managers $132,210
14 Chief Executives $199,010
15 Physicians, All Other $295,200
16 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives $106,660
17 Human Resources Managers $125,970
18 Marketing Managers $114,940
19 Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products $104,530
20 Dentists, General $163,600
21 Architectural and Engineering Managers $140,340
22 Physician Assistants $132,880
23 Veterinarians $130,740
24 Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers $102,680
25 Information Security Analysts $106,350

Lowest Paying Jobs in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA

Occupation Median Salary
Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers $21,390
Waiters and Waitresses $21,490
Bartenders $21,540
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers $23,190
Amusement and Recreation Attendants $26,400
Library Assistants, Clerical $26,790
Childcare Workers $27,580
Fast Food and Counter Workers $27,820
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant $28,140
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop $28,190

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.

Ames, IA

IA · metropolitan area

Cedar Rapids, IA

IA · metropolitan area

Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL

IA · metropolitan area

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

IA · metropolitan area

Dubuque, IA

IA · metropolitan area
Compare Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA side-by-side with another metro →

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 ($55,537 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 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA wage reading? ▼
The employment-weighted published-row mean across 305 occupation rows is $55,537/year (BLS OEWS May 2025). BEA RPP 87.1 puts local prices 13% below the US average, so the same mean reads as $63,794 in national-price terms. Page lists 308 occupations with a published median — a different denominator. The top-tier median average of the 25 highest-paying rows is $136,802.
What is the highest paying job in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA? ▼
The highest paying occupation in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is Physicians, All Other with a median salary of $295,200/year. The second highest is Family Medicine Physicians at $287,990/year.
What jobs pay the least in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA? ▼
The lowest paying occupation in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers with a median salary of $21,390/year according to BLS data.
Which federal tables feed Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA's wage and price figures? ▼
Occupation wages are BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for this metropolitan statistical area. The price-level figure is BEA Regional Price Parities for the matching metro area (latest published year on the page). WageDex divides the employment-weighted published-row mean by RPP only when both inputs exist; it does not substitute a national RPP.

Related federal data

BLS OEWS, metro wage tables → BEA Regional Price Parities →

Last updated: May 2025 (BLS OEWS annual release). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025. Cost-of-living index: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024.

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.

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