Iowa Paycheck Calculator

Four tax lines come out of an Iowa paycheck: federal income tax, Social Security (6.2% up to $184,500), Medicare (1.45%), and Iowa state income tax. No Iowa city or county taxes wages through payroll, and the state has no disability or paid-leave premium. Many school districts levy a surtax, but it is paid with your Iowa return, so employers do not withhold it. Anything else on your stub is your own election: 401(k), health premiums, HSA, and similar benefits.

Iowa's formula subtracts the deduction for your IA W-4 status: $13,000 for single, married filing separately, or married with a working spouse; $19,500 for head of household; $26,000 for married filing jointly with one income or a qualifying surviving spouse. Multiply the rest by 3.8%, then subtract your line 7 allowance dollars across the year: $40 for yourself, $40 for a spouse, $40 per dependent, plus $20 for age 65 or blindness and itemized adjustments times 3.8%. This calculator models the $40 amounts via the Iowa exemptions and Dependents fields.

Choose the filing status that matches your IA W-4 column. This calculator applies $26,000 to Married filing jointly, which fits a one-income couple; if both spouses work, each paycheck is withheld on the $13,000 deduction, so pick Single or Married filing separately to reproduce it. The deduction and the 3.8% rate are the same for everyone, so the column and the allowance count are the only things that move your Iowa line. Bonuses paid separately are withheld at a flat 3.8%.

For 2026 the withholding deductions rose from $12,000, $18,050, and $24,050 to $13,000, $19,500, and $26,000, and the IA W-4 was revised to add a senior deduction line following the federal OBBBA changes; the 3.8% rate is unchanged. Iowa has one reciprocity agreement, with Illinois: Illinois residents who work in Iowa file Form IA 44-016 with their employer so that Iowa tax is not withheld from their wages.