The highest paying job in Iowa is Nurse Anesthetists, with a median salary of $229,950 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in IA based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse Anesthetists | $229,950 | $245,780 | 580 |
| 2 | Orthodontists | $223,020 | $289,570 | 30 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $178,530 | $211,710 | 3,520 |
| 4 | Dentists, General | $174,990 | $216,520 | 850 |
| 5 | Law Teachers, Postsecondary | $170,810 | $165,580 | N/A |
| 6 | Aerospace Engineers | $150,010 | $137,430 | N/A |
| 7 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $137,870 | $145,620 | 1,520 |
| 8 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $136,610 | $149,180 | 3,650 |
| 9 | Nurse Midwives | $136,450 | $149,040 | 70 |
| 10 | Physician Assistants | $133,400 | $135,450 | 1,200 |
| 11 | Pharmacist | $133,220 | $131,150 | 2,920 |
| 12 | Database Architects | $131,370 | $124,910 | 280 |
| 13 | Airline Pilot | $130,980 | $158,090 | 100 |
| 14 | Financial Manager | $130,600 | $142,600 | 9,400 |
| 15 | Actuaries | $129,870 | $128,070 | 650 |
| 16 | Nurse Practitioners | $129,420 | $133,020 | 2,810 |
| 17 | Medical Dosimetrists | $128,690 | $132,180 | 30 |
| 18 | Marketing Manager | $128,150 | $137,990 | 2,210 |
| 19 | Sales Manager | $128,010 | $140,470 | 2,960 |
| 20 | Managers, All Other | $127,680 | $134,620 | 3,360 |
| 21 | Podiatrists | $126,790 | $144,150 | 100 |
| 22 | Psychologists, All Other | $123,740 | $104,670 | 80 |
| 23 | Human Resources Manager | $122,200 | $132,140 | 1,660 |
| 24 | Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors | $121,520 | $117,510 | 180 |
| 25 | Physicists | $120,810 | $157,580 | 120 |
Average Salary in Iowa · All Iowa Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Iowa are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Nurse Anesthetists, pays $165,177 more than the state average of $64,772 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $120,810, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Iowa's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.