Photographers Salary

It’s a stretch — at the median salary of $42K, rent takes 46.7% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,318/month. The 30% guideline puts the comfortable ceiling at roughly $800/month in rent — so roommates or a 1-bedroom would ease the math significantly.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new photographers typically earn — is $21K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $1,282/month. At HUD’s $1,318/month FMR, rent would take 103% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $42K locally vs. $45K nationally, a 6% difference.

Des Moines-West Des Moines pays $42K median vs. the U.S. average of $45K — that’s -6%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 91.7), the purchasing-power equivalent is $46K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $42,080 a year, that works out to about $20 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $21,360, and experienced photographers can clear $78,920. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $2,823/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,318/month, which eats 46.7% of your paycheck. That's above the 30% rule of thumb, housing will be a stretch at the median salary, though you can manage with roommates or a smaller place.

Des Moines-West Des Moines has a Regional Price Parity of 91.7 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median photographers salary is worth about $45,889 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.