Des Moines Paycheck Calculator (2026)

How the Des Moines Paycheck Calculator: Take-Home Pay Works

This Des Moines paycheck calculator estimates your take-home pay in Des Moines, Iowa, using the 2026 federal brackets, Social Security, Medicare, Iowa income tax. Des Moines workers pay Iowa's flat income tax, which fell to 3.8% recently, and no city income tax, though some school districts add a surtax. Enter your salary, pay frequency, filing status and any pre-tax deduction to see net pay per paycheck and per year.

How Des Moines paychecks are taxed

A Des Moines paycheck is taxed federally and by Iowa at a flat 3.8% under recent tax reform, with the state aiming for further reductions, so check the current rate. On $65,000, state tax is about $2,300, or 3.6% of gross pay. Iowa follows federal treatment of traditional 401(k) contributions.

Use Form IA W-4 to set state withholding.

Local taxes and payroll deductions in Des Moines

Des Moines has no city income tax and no state disability insurance. Some school districts levy an income surtax, generally 1% to 2% of the state tax liability, which is paid on the annual return. Insurance, finance, government and health care are major employers, and the city is a large center for insurance companies.

See the Iowa paycheck calculator for statewide rules.

Typical pay in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area

Employers in the Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metro area reported roughly 404,130 jobs in May 2025. The median annual wage across all of them was $51,820 ($24.91 an hour), 7% above the Iowa median of $48,540 and 2% above the national median of $50,980. The average wage was higher, at $65,970, because a smaller number of high earners pull the average up; the median is the better guide to a typical paycheck.

After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the Iowa taxes in this calculator, a single worker on that $51,820 median takes home about $42,500 a year, or $3,542 a month and $1,634.62 every two weeks.

Wage figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA metropolitan area. Take-home pay: this page's 2026 calculator, single filer, no pre-tax deductions, default settings.

What Des Moines's largest occupations take home

Here are the jobs that employ the most people in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area. Each row shows the median salary and what a single filer keeps after 2026 taxes in Des Moines.

The most common jobs are not the best paid ones: 10 of these 15 pay less than the $51,820 median for all workers, which is why the overall median is lower than many people expect.

Worked example: $65,000 salary in Des Moines

A single Des Moines worker earning $65,000, paid every two weeks and contributing $100 per paycheck to a traditional 401(k), has gross pay of $2,500.00 per paycheck. Federal income tax after the $2,600 deferral and the $16,100 standard deduction is about $5,308. Social Security is $4,030 and Medicare is $943. Iowa state income tax is about $1,719.

Net pay is about $50,400 a year, or $1,938.47 per paycheck, which is 77.5% of gross pay. Change any input in the calculator above to test your own situation.

Best-paying common jobs in Des Moines

Among occupations with at least 600 workers in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area, these have the highest median pay. Federal tax takes a larger share at these salaries, so compare the take-home column rather than the salary when weighing offers.

What makes the Des Moines job market different

A location quotient compares how common a job is locally with its share nationwide: 2.0 means twice as concentrated as the U.S. overall. These occupations stand out in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area and say a lot about which industries hire there.

How Des Moines wages compare for well-known jobs

Median annual wages for well-known jobs in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area, the whole state of Iowa and the United States. Pay usually tracks living costs, so a higher wage does not always mean more money left over.

Entry-level and hourly pay in Des Moines

The lowest-paid 10% of workers in the Des Moines-West Des Moines area earn under $14.38 an hour. Common hourly jobs pay the median rates below; a 40-hour week at that rate takes home the amount shown after 2026 taxes. Check the current Iowa minimum wage on the U.S. Department of Labor state minimum wage page, since several states raise it each year.

Des Moines wages by type of work

BLS groups every job into broad career fields. Here is how many people work in each across the Des Moines-West Des Moines area, the field's median salary and what that salary takes home in Des Moines. Management pays the most at a median of $120,120; food preparation and serving related pays the least at $30,320.

Starting vs. experienced pay in Des Moines

The median hides a wide range. The lowest-paid 10% in a job are often new to it, while the top 10% are usually experienced, specialized or in management. The ranges below for common Des Moines jobs show how much room there is to grow, with take-home pay at each level.

Cost of living in Des Moines: rent, sales tax and housing

Des Moines is affordable, with one-bedroom rents around $1,000 to $1,300 a month. The combined sales tax rate is 7%, and property taxes are relatively high, especially for commercial property.

Hourly wages in Des Moines: what different pay rates take home

Many Des Moines workers are paid by the hour, so here is the estimated take-home pay at common wage rates for a single filer working 2,080 hours a year, using 2026 federal rules and the Des Moines and state taxes in this calculator. The figures assume no pre-tax deductions, so your own paycheck will differ once benefits are included.

Overtime is taxed as ordinary wages, so an extra hour is worth less than the wage rate after tax. Use the hourly paycheck calculator to include overtime hours and different pay frequencies.

How a 401(k) contribution changes a Des Moines paycheck

On a $65,000 salary with no retirement savings, estimated take-home pay in Des Moines is $52,589 a year. Contributing 6% to a traditional 401(k), which is $3,900, reduces take-home pay by only $3,284 because the contribution lowers federal income tax and, in most cases, state income tax. A 10% contribution of $6,500 lowers take-home pay by $5,473.

In other words, each dollar you save costs roughly 84 cents of take-home pay at this income. If your employer matches contributions, the true cost is even lower, so contributing at least enough to receive the full match is one of the most reliable ways to raise your total pay. Roth contributions cost the full dollar of take-home pay but grow tax-free.

Single or married: a $120,000 household in Des Moines

Filing status changes the outcome even when income is the same. A single filer earning $120,000 in Des Moines takes home about $89,342 a year, while a married couple filing jointly with one earner at $120,000 takes home about $97,524, a difference of $8,182 a year, because the joint standard deduction is $32,200 and the joint brackets are twice as wide.

If both spouses work, each employer withholds as if the job were the only income, which can leave you under-withheld, so use the multiple jobs paycheck calculator and update Form W-4. Head-of-household filers with a qualifying dependent can use the head of household calculator.

Budgeting on the median Des Moines wage

On the $51,820 median, the common guideline of spending no more than 30% of gross pay on housing allows rent of about $1,295 a month. Using the 50/30/20 rule on the $3,542 monthly take-home pay, that is about $1,771 for needs such as rent, food and transport, $1,063 for wants and $708 for savings and debt payments.

If rents run above $1,295 for the home you want, the usual fixes are a roommate, a longer commute or a second income in the household; the rent affordability calculator tests your own numbers.