Highest Paying Jobs in Iowa

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

Highest Occupation Median

$429,050

Emergency Medicine Physicians

Mean of Top 25 Medians

$251,387

each occupation weighted once

Medians ≥ $100K

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking is drawn from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release for Iowa. The top occupation's state median is +28% above the national median of $335,550 for the same role. The equal-weighted mean of the top ten published occupation medians is $357,754. It is not a worker mean or median.

The "Difference" column subtracts or compares each state median with the corresponding national median for the same SOC code. In this list, 28 of 100 occupation medians are above the corresponding national median in Iowa. These values do not identify why the state and national estimates differ.

This ranking orders published occupation medians; it does not identify career stages, individual earning potential, or the odds of obtaining a job. The employment column contains estimated jobs in covered establishments. Occupation profiles separately show BLS projection and typical-entry education assignments where available. OEWS includes tips, commissions, incentive pay, and production bonuses. Employer benefits, overtime premiums, stock compensation, and nonproduction bonuses are outside the estimate, so review those separately for any specific offer. Open a linked profile to compare percentile boundaries, BLS education assignments, local-area estimates, and projected openings without treating one measure as a personal forecast.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Estimated Jobs
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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 90 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 80 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 90 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 60 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 80 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 80 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 40 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 60 workers (fewer than 100). Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$116,850	$92,100	+27% above	60
50	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 90 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 80 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 50 workers (fewer than 100). 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 Small sample: Small sample: this BLS estimate rests on 70 workers (fewer than 100). 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

Small sample marks a row whose BLS estimate rests on fewer than 100 workers. It is still a published figure, but BLS reports more sampling error for cells this small: the median relative standard error of the mean wage is 3.9% under 100 workers against 2.3% at 100 or more (May 2025 state estimates). Small gaps in rank between neighbouring rows may not be meaningful.

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

Iowa Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in Iowa

Top 50 by growth rate

National Rankings

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.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex · August 10, 2026

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