Software Developer Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $115K, rent takes 15.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,064/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new software developers typically earn — is $74K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,463/month. At HUD’s $1,064/month FMR, rent would take 24% of that take-home — manageable on an entry-level income.

Local pay runs 16% below the national median — $115K here vs. $136K nationally. Cost of living is 11% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Iowa pays $115K median vs. the U.S. average of $136K — that’s -16%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.86), the purchasing-power equivalent is $129K — below the national median.

The median is $114,890 a year, that works out to about $55 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $74,390, and experienced software developers can clear $165,880. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,924/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,064/month, which eats 15.4% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Iowa has a Regional Price Parity of 88.86 (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 software developers salary is worth about $129,293 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.