Highest Paying Jobs in Iowa

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary — Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$429,050

Emergency Medicine Physicians

Top 25 Average

$251,387

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Iowa by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Emergency Medicine Physicians pays a state median of $429,050, +28% above the national median of $335,550 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 73 pay above $100,000 per year in Iowa — a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $357,754, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 28 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Iowa, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news — they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Iowa is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime — especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Iowa, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$429,050	$335,550	+28% above	290
2	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$424,970	$328,730	+29% above	N/A
3	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$405,220	$420,860	4% below	130
4	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$394,900	$300,080	+32% above	90
5	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$370,390	$414,010	11% below	110
6	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$356,020	$292,910	+22% above	180
7	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$323,460	$312,400	+4% above	80
8	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$295,270	$281,870	+5% above	170
9	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$295,190	$265,930	+11% above	1,440
10	Cardiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$283,070	$496,010	43% below	100
11	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$273,070	$236,590	+15% above	380
12	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$265,200	$244,180	+9% above	1,140
13	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$262,440	$210,040	+25% above	230
14	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$211,190	$213,990	1% below	3,050
15	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$189,410	$358,550	47% below	260
16	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$181,520	$170,950	+6% above	1,240
17	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$178,110	$172,250	+3% above	110
18	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$160,700	$128,500	+25% above	90
19	Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates Legal Occupations	$147,510	$153,990	4% below	410
20	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$147,320	$171,270	14% below	1,520
21	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$143,780	$175,140	18% below	3,920
22	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$138,860	$140,910	1% below	3,230
23	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$138,420	$110,840	+25% above	60
24	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,830	$160,300	16% below	100
25	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$134,770	$135,880	1% below	1,200
26	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$134,010	$148,270	10% below	3,260
27	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$133,320	$166,570	20% below	9,130
28	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$131,730	$232,140	43% below	100
29	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$131,360	$134,040	2% below	80
30	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$131,120	$166,790	21% below	2,210
31	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$130,160	$132,300	2% below	3,240
32	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$128,690	$130,000	1% below	530
33	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$128,490	$107,310	+20% above	3,230
34	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$128,080	$141,900	10% below	3,600
35	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$126,370	$149,280	15% below	1,620
36	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$125,380	$136,570	8% below	450
37	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$125,120	$161,740	23% below	130
38	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$124,610	$130,100	4% below	1,000
39	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$124,040	$139,500	11% below	240
40	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$123,550	$159,670	23% below	3,550
41	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers Legal Occupations	$123,500	$117,860	+5% above	80
42	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$122,920	$256,560	52% below	380
43	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$121,580	$148,080	18% below	610
44	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$120,730	$146,910	18% below	630
45	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$119,710	$129,180	7% below	1,160
46	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$118,250	$149,230	21% below	120
47	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$117,590	$125,040	6% below	40
48	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$116,920	$114,130	+2% above	1,380
49	Transportation Inspectors Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$116,850	$92,100	+27% above	60
50	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$115,300	$109,910	+5% above	90
51	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$114,890	$135,980	16% below	9,040
52	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$109,760	$167,220	34% below	610
53	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$108,890	$133,660	19% below	210
54	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$108,330	$133,000	19% below	290
55	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$107,340	$116,580	8% below	3,850
56	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$106,510	$126,060	16% below	3,620
57	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$106,350	$115,160	8% below	230
58	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$105,820	$120,630	12% below	1,280
59	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$105,680	$117,330	10% below	530
60	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$104,270	$100,310	+4% above	120
61	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$104,260	$105,870	2% below	3,310
62	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$103,380	$104,920	1% below	2,580
63	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$103,360	$109,270	5% below	430
64	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$103,090	$122,930	16% below	1,100
65	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$103,050	$134,050	23% below	1,170
66	Power Distributors and Dispatchers Production Occupations	$102,980	$106,730	4% below	N/A
67	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$101,940	$123,860	18% below	6,200
68	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$101,800	$123,220	17% below	300
69	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$101,210	$104,620	3% below	360
70	Biochemists and Biophysicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$101,090	$127,410	21% below	140
71	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$101,080	$98,700	+2% above	230
72	Power Plant Operators Production Occupations	$100,500	$102,040	2% below	470
73	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$100,200	$95,320	+5% above	1,390
74	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$99,280	$114,990	14% below	3,070
75	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$99,010	$106,660	7% below	2,340
76	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$99,010	$107,230	8% below	1,850
77	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$98,840	$106,040	7% below	1,370
78	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$98,700	$125,470	21% below	370
79	Fish and Game Wardens Protective Service Occupations	$98,260	$74,060	+33% above	120
80	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$97,700	$104,110	6% below	3,470
81	Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$97,700	$92,460	+6% above	80
82	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$97,690	$102,440	5% below	3,600
83	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$97,660	$103,170	5% below	50
84	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$97,560	$102,760	5% below	2,530
85	Audiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$97,180	$95,780	+1% above	270
86	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$96,810	$99,280	2% below	650
87	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$96,540	$102,320	6% below	6,720
88	Civil Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$96,430	$100,840	4% below	2,500
89	Soil and Plant Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$96,310	$78,850	+22% above	960
90	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$96,310	$124,720	23% below	70
91	Agricultural Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$96,290	$98,590	2% below	100
92	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$95,920	$105,850	9% below	4,760
93	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$95,830	$120,230	20% below	2,300
94	Environmental Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$94,830	$107,110	11% below	150
95	Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$93,810	$72,420	+30% above	160
96	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents Management Occupations	$93,160	$96,660	4% below	260
97	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$92,970	$95,200	2% below	330
98	Gas Plant Operators Production Occupations	$92,970	$87,820	+6% above	480
99	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$92,890	$101,370	8% below	150
100	Financial and Investment Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$92,370	$102,740	10% below	2,000

More ways to explore Iowa pay and compare with national data.

Iowa Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in Iowa

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Highest paying jobs nationwide

Emergency Medicine Physicians

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Iowa. The "Difference" column shows how Iowa pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Reviewed byWageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · June 3, 2026

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