Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary Salary in Iowa

In Iowa, teaching assistants, except postsecondary earn a median $30,510 a year, well below the national median of $36,780 (−17%); the state ranks 37th of 51 states by median. That is 37% less than the median across all occupations in Iowa ($48,540). Among neighbouring states, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska pay more (up to $40,100 in Minnesota) and South Dakota pays less (down to $28,220 in South Dakota). Iowa employs 24,520 teaching assistants, except postsecondary, 15.7 per 1,000 jobs, the 19th largest count of any state. A location quotient of 1.72 means the occupation is more concentrated in Iowa than nationally.

Iowa vs the United States, May 2025

Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary: wage percentiles, mean, employment, jobs per 1,000 and location quotient in Iowa and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Iowa	Hourly	*	*	*	*	*	*	24,520	15.72	1.72
Iowa	Annual	$22,400	$28,060	$30,510	$35,530	$37,520	$31,160	24,520	15.72	1.72
United States	Hourly	*	*	*	*	*	*	1,420,350	–	–
United States	Annual	$27,150	$31,060	$36,780	$45,360	$50,040	$38,290	1,420,350	–	–

Iowa annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

Rank by median: 37th of 51 states
Rank by employment: 19th of 51 states
Location quotient: 1.72
Jobs per 1,000: 15.72

Ranks count the 50 states and DC with a published value. The location quotient is the occupation's share of Iowa's employment divided by its national share; 1.00 means the same share as the nation. Take-home pay at these wages: FastCalc's take-home pay calculator.

Metropolitan areas in Iowa

9 metropolitan areas and 4 nonmetropolitan areas touching Iowa publish a row for teaching assistants, except postsecondary, sorted by median. Areas crossing a state line are listed under every state they touch; a linked metro has its own profile.

Area	Median hourly	Median annual	10th pct (annual)	90th pct (annual)	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Omaha, NE-IA	*	$35,910	$28,080	$45,670	5,210	10.46	1.15
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	*	$34,620	$23,740	$38,340	5,140	12.72	1.39
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	*	$34,530	$27,630	$46,960	2,100	11.66	1.28
Cedar Rapids, IA	*	$32,890	$22,720	$38,580	1,870	13.46	1.47
Sioux City, IA-NE-SD	*	$30,880	$23,240	$37,310	990	13.17	1.44
Ames, IA	*	$30,420	$22,500	$36,500	780	13.87	1.52
Dubuque, IA	*	$30,410	$22,340	$37,350	710	12.21	1.34
Iowa City, IA	*	$30,340	$23,100	$37,310	1,290	13.76	1.51
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA	*	$29,900	$22,570	$37,480	1,350	15.97	1.75
Southwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area	*	$30,470	$22,090	$35,950	1,640	22.35	2.45
Northeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area	*	$30,420	$22,240	$36,120	2,070	20.84	2.28
Northwest Iowa nonmetropolitan area	*	$30,380	$21,580	$36,120	3,070	21.07	2.31
Southeast Iowa nonmetropolitan area	*	$29,120	$21,580	$35,980	3,890	19.43	2.13

Neighbouring states

State	Median hourly	Median annual	Employment	Location quotient
Iowa	*	$30,510	24,520	1.72
Illinois	*	$36,990	64,210	1.15
Minnesota	*	$40,100	38,540	1.43
Missouri	*	$36,300	20,930	0.78
Nebraska	*	$35,160	11,190	1.20
South Dakota	*	$28,220	4,650	1.11
Wisconsin	*	$37,800	26,520	0.99

See the national page for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary (every state ranked) and the Iowa wage profile (every occupation in the state).

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Iowa estimates.

*: Wage estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.