Fast Food and Counter Workers salary in Iowa
SOC 35-3023 · BLS OEWS May 2025
How local pay compares
After local prices: the $28,390 median has purchasing power comparable to about $32,349 nationally. Iowa's BEA regional price parity is 87.8 (2024).
What the local range looks like
The wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the darker section is the middle half, and the tick is the median for Iowa.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter
- No formal educational credential
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Narrow to a metro in Iowa
Every linked area below has a published estimate for fast food and counter workers. Missing areas were withheld by BLS rather than measured at zero.
The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.
| # | Metro area | Median | Cost of living | Employed | Concentrationvs. national |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL | $31,200 | 89.1 | 4,810 | 1.08× |
| 2 | Omaha, NE-IA | $29,450 | 91.9 | 15,580 | 1.26× |
| 3 | Ames, IA | $29,220 | 88.8 | 1,620 | 1.17× |
| 4 | Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA | $29,140 | 91.7 | 10,060 | 1.00× |
| 5 | Sioux City, IA-NE-SD | $29,090 | 86.5 | 2,060 | 1.11× |
| 6 | Iowa City, IA | $28,760 | 91.5 | 2,890 | 1.24× |
| 7 | Dubuque, IA | $28,680 | 87.3 | 1,600 | 1.10× |
| 8 | Cedar Rapids, IA | $28,280 | 89.0 | 3,590 | 1.04× |
| 9 | Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA | $27,820 | 87.1 | 2,500 | 1.20× |
Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where fast food and counter workers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.
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