2026 Iowa paycheck calculator
Iowa withholds a flat 3.8 percent of pay after a deduction that depends on your filing status.
Updated for 2026Checked Oct 29, 2026 against IRS and Iowa Department of Revenue sourcesHow we check
Your take-home pay
$1,252.64
per paycheck, paid every two weeks
- Gross pay
- $1,500.00
- Federal income tax
- $96.15
- Social Security
- $93.00
- Medicare
- $21.75
- County tax
- Choose your county
- Take-home
- $1,252.64
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Take-home pay $1,252.64
Iowa pay rules at a glance
| State income tax | Flat rate Source |
| County or local tax | Iowa cities and counties do not tax wages, and nothing local is withheld from pay. Most school districts, and six counties for emergency medical services (Appanoose, Cass, Pocahontas, Sac, Shelby, and Winnebago), add a surtax figured as a percentage of a resident's state income tax (school surtax capped at 20 percent, the medical services surtax at 1 percent), paid with the annual Iowa return. Source |
| Disability or paid leave | None Source |
| Minimum wage | $7.25 an hour Source |
| Tipped minimum cash wage | $4.35 an hour, before tips Source |
| Final paycheck if you are let go | All wages earned by the next regular payday for the pay period in which they were earned; any commission balance within 30 days. Source |
| Final paycheck if you quit | All wages earned by the next regular payday for the pay period in which they were earned; any commission balance within 30 days. Source |
What comes out of a Iowa paycheck
On $1,500 every two weeks, single, an Iowa worker keeps $1,252.64.
Iowa taxes income at a flat 3.8 percent. Its withholding formula is short. The employer subtracts a deduction from the paycheck, multiplies the rest by 3.8 percent, and then takes off a small credit for the allowances on the 2026 IA W-4. Where that goes below zero, the withholding is $0.
The deduction comes from one of three columns. Column A covers single workers and is $250 a week, $500 biweekly, or $1,083.33 monthly. Column B is for head of household at $375 a week or $750 biweekly. Column C is for a married worker whose spouse has no earned income, at $500 a week or $1,000 biweekly.
The calculator treats every married worker as having a spouse with no earned income, so married pay gets column C and a spouse allowance. If your spouse does earn income, the form calls for column A and no spouse allowance, and more tax comes out than the calculator shows. At $2,100 biweekly, the department's examples show $59.26 for single, $38.72 for married, and $45.15 for head of household.
Allowances are worth $40 each: one for yourself ($80 for a head of household), one for a spouse if you are married, and one per dependent. That total is divided by your pay periods and taken off each check. Iowa does not subtract federal tax, and its tables round to the cent.
County and local taxes
Iowa cities and counties do not tax wages, and nothing local is withheld from pay. What exists instead are surtaxes added to your state income tax and paid with the annual return. Most school districts charge one of up to 20 percent of your state tax. Six counties charge an emergency medical services surtax of up to 1 percent: Appanoose, Cass, Pocahontas, Sac, Shelby, and Winnebago. These are not part of withholding and the calculator does not compute them.
Final pay and the minimum wage
Iowa's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, or the federal rate if that is higher. Workers in their first 90 calendar days may be paid $6.35. Employers in restaurants, hotels, motels, inns, and cabins can count tips toward the minimum for workers who receive more than $30 a month in tips, which brings the cash wage down to at least $4.35.
Whether you quit or are let go, all wages earned are due by the next regular payday for the pay period in which you earned them. Any commission balance is due within 30 days.
Nearby states
Sources and checks
Checked on Oct 29, 2026. Source: Iowa Code 2026, section 422.5(1)(a) (www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/422.5.pdf, fetched Oct 29, 2026): tax is imposed "at a rate of three and eight-tenths percent"; Iowa Department of Revenue, "Iowa Individual Income Tax Withholding Formula, Effective January 1, 2026" (Released November 2025), Step 2: rate 3.80 percent.
Local taxes: Iowa Department of Revenue, "Iowa Tax/Fee Descriptions and Rates" (revenue.iowa.gov/taxes/tax-guidance/general/iowa-taxfee-descriptions-and-rates, fetched Oct 29, 2026): school district surtax "Not to exceed 20% of state income tax liability" and "collected with the individual income tax return"; emergency medical services surtax "Up to 1% of state income tax liability"; IA 1040 Expanded Instructions, Line 19 (2025 instruction year; revenue.iowa.gov/taxes/tax-guidance/individual-income-tax/1040-expanded-instructions/school-district-surtaxemergency) lists the six counties; 2026 IA W-4, line 8 instructions: residents of a surtax district should "consider reducing the amount of allowances ... or have additional tax withheld", confirming the withholding formula itself does not include the surtax.
Disability and paid leave: Iowa has no state disability or paid family leave program. Its only state payroll insurance, unemployment insurance, is paid by employers: Iowa Code 96.7(1), "Employer contributions and reimbursements" (www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/96.7.pdf, fetched Oct 29, 2026). The 2026 withholding formula has no other employee deduction.
Minimum wage: Iowa Code 2026, section 91D.1(1) (www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/91D.1.pdf, fetched Oct 29, 2026): $7.25 as of January 1, 2008, or the federal minimum wage if greater; workers in their first 90 calendar days may be paid $6.35; businesses under $300,000 in annual sales are exempt except in listed industries. Tipped workers in restaurants, hotels, motels, inns, or cabins who receive more than $30 a month in tips: the employer may count tips up to 40 percent of the minimum wage ($2.90), so the cash wage is at least $4.35.
Final paycheck: Iowa Code 2026, section 91A.4, "Employment suspension or termination - how wages are paid" (www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/91A.4.pdf, fetched and read Oct 29, 2026): "When the employment of an employee is suspended or terminated, the employer shall pay all wages earned ... not later than the next regular payday for the pay period in which the wages were earned." The section covers any termination, voluntary or not.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and its "2026 Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems and Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities," pages 10 to 12. Fetched directly from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf and transcribed Oct 28, 2026.
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