State money

State pay

How many people each state agency pays, and what it pays them, year by year. Pick an agency to see its jobs by title. Only totals and averages for groups of at least 5 people are shown, never one person’s pay.¹

Agency

Public Defense

288 people in FY24, paid $15.9M in all, an average of $55,330.

People

533

273

Fiscal year	People
FY26	273
FY25	295
FY24	288
FY23	293
FY22	525
FY21	294
FY20	293
FY19	291
FY18	286
FY17	284
FY16	285
FY15	446
FY14	477
FY13	498
FY12	532
FY11	533
FY10	489
FY09	442
FY08	433
FY07	441

Show the numbers

Fiscal year	People
FY26	273
FY25	295
FY24	288
FY23	293
FY22	525
FY21	294
FY20	293
FY19	291
FY18	286
FY17	284
FY16	285
FY15	446
FY14	477
FY13	498
FY12	532
FY11	533
FY10	489
FY09	442
FY08	433
FY07	441

Download these numbers (CSV)

Total pay

$33.8M

$16.4M

Fiscal year	Total pay
FY26	$16.4M
FY25	$16.1M
FY24	$15.9M
FY23	$16.5M
FY22	$33.8M
FY21	$15.7M
FY20	$15.2M
FY19	$14.9M
FY18	$15.2M
FY17	$15.1M
FY16	$15.1M
FY15	$22.3M
FY14	$23.9M
FY13	$25.2M
FY12	$25.4M
FY11	$22.3M
FY10	$20.2M
FY09	$19.9M
FY08	$18.2M
FY07	$18.0M

Show the numbers

Fiscal year	Total pay
FY26	$16.4M
FY25	$16.1M
FY24	$15.9M
FY23	$16.5M
FY22	$33.8M
FY21	$15.7M
FY20	$15.2M
FY19	$14.9M
FY18	$15.2M
FY17	$15.1M
FY16	$15.1M
FY15	$22.3M
FY14	$23.9M
FY13	$25.2M
FY12	$25.4M
FY11	$22.3M
FY10	$20.2M
FY09	$19.9M
FY08	$18.2M
FY07	$18.0M

Download these numbers (CSV)

Jobs by title, FY24

Titles held by fewer than 5 people here are combined into “Other titles”².

Title	People	Average pay	Average base salary
Other titles	120	$65,688	$80,410
Airport Firefighter	39	$50,826	$45,380
Air Base Security Officer	34	$47,161	$51,199
Custodial Worker	16	$34,964	$41,070
Temporary Worker	14	$15,671	$52,076
Maintenance Repairer	11	$39,398	$52,906
Hvac Technician	9	$49,376	$63,755
Electrician	8	$72,679	$74,693
Heavy Equipment Operator	8	$32,142	$51,409
Facilities Maintenance Coordinator	7	$59,271	$61,960
Construction/Design Engineer Senior	6	$105,215	–
Equipment Operator	6	$49,671	$53,629
Clerk Specialist	5	$45,556	–
Construction/Design Engineer	5	$79,929	–

All agencies

69,436

people paid in FY24

$4.19B

total pay in FY24, $3.14B in FY14

65%

of it paid by the three state universities and their hospitals

State payroll over time

Total pay for everyone in the salary book, each fiscal year, not adjusted for inflation.

Fiscal year	People	Total pay
FY26	68,019	$4.69B
FY25	70,390	$4.49B
FY24	69,436	$4.19B
FY23	61,110	$3.97B
FY22	65,312	$3.85B
FY21	63,829	$3.69B
FY20	63,896	$3.61B
FY19	60,445	$3.48B
FY18	59,867	$3.44B
FY17	59,400	$3.41B
FY16	58,988	$3.29B
FY15	60,138	$3.21B
FY14	59,859	$3.14B
FY13	59,488	$3.08B
FY12	59,929	$3.02B
FY11	60,125	$2.88B
FY10	59,113	$2.86B
FY09	60,328	$2.92B
FY08	60,262	$2.75B
FY07	67,695	$2.65B

Show the numbers

Fiscal year	People	Total pay
FY26	68,019	$4.69B
FY25	70,390	$4.49B
FY24	69,436	$4.19B
FY23	61,110	$3.97B
FY22	65,312	$3.85B
FY21	63,829	$3.69B
FY20	63,896	$3.61B
FY19	60,445	$3.48B
FY18	59,867	$3.44B
FY17	59,400	$3.41B
FY16	58,988	$3.29B
FY15	60,138	$3.21B
FY14	59,859	$3.14B
FY13	59,488	$3.08B
FY12	59,929	$3.02B
FY11	60,125	$2.88B
FY10	59,113	$2.86B
FY09	60,328	$2.92B
FY08	60,262	$2.75B
FY07	67,695	$2.65B

Download these numbers (CSV)

By agency, FY24

Average pay is total pay divided by people, so part-time and part-year workers pull it down.

Agency	People	Total pay	Average pay	People, FY14
University of Iowa	28,711	$2.02B	$70,243	21,851
Health and Human Services	10,331	$314.3M	$30,422	–
Iowa State University	8,469	$594.1M	$70,149	9,425
Transportation	3,254	$185.1M	$56,887	3,679
Corrections	3,173	$180.0M	$56,731	3,357
University of Northern Iowa	2,246	$120.5M	$53,662	2,426
Judicial Branch	2,007	$127.3M	$63,437	2,002
Natural Resources	1,489	$69.1M	$46,428	–
Public Safety	1,128	$88.1M	$78,087	959
Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing	1,077	$65.2M	$60,508	–
Veterans Home	948	$37.3M	$39,358	1,163
Workforce Development	832	$38.7M	$46,493	850
Management	598	$41.4M	$69,172	26
Legislature	541	$24.5M	$45,352	600
Education	540	$34.1M	$63,160	885
Revenue	527	$29.3M	$55,564	410
Vocational Rehabilitation Services	499	$32.4M	$64,841	–
Agriculture and Land Stewardship	459	$24.2M	$52,675	402
Administrative Services	416	$23.1M	$55,437	417
Public Defense	288	$15.9M	$55,330	477
Attorney General	285	$26.0M	$91,258	281
Insurance and Financial Services	260	$20.9M	$80,246	–
Iowa School for the Deaf	188	$7.8M	$41,301	177
Economic Development	154	$9.3M	$60,298	147
Auditor of State	125	$8.6M	$68,786	139
Lottery Authority	122	$7.3M	$60,040	140
Finance Authority	107	$8.1M	$75,676	125
Department for the Blind	106	$4.5M	$42,544	97
IPERS	95	$8.5M	$89,411	84
Commerce	94	$6.5M	$69,186	403
Homeland Security and Emergency Management	91	$6.9M	$75,708	–
Iowa Communications Network	79	$6.8M	$85,501	91
Secretary of State	47	$2.6M	$56,323	34
Treasurer of State	36	$2.0M	$56,140	29
Governor’s Office	32	$2.7M	$83,982	31
Law Enforcement Academy	32	$2.1M	$65,272	31
Veterans Affairs	19	$802K	$42,205	16
Board of Parole	15	$891K	$59,373	19
Ethics and Campaign Disclosure	8	$498K	$62,225	12
Public Employment Relations	5	$231K	$46,164	14
Public Information Board	3	–	–	3

A dash: fewer than 5 people, so pay isn’t shown.

Notes

From the State of Iowa Salary Book on the Iowa Data Hub, which lists everyone the state paid at least $1,000 in a fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), including the Regents universities, the courts and the Legislature, but not community-based corrections or State Fair staff. Someone who worked for two agencies counts in each. Pay is everything paid in the year, including overtime; travel reimbursements aren’t included. Iowa Funnel stores only totals: no names, and no figure for any group of fewer than 5 people. ↩
When “Other titles” itself would have fewer than 5 people, the smallest titles are added to it until it has 5. Base salary is the yearly rate the salary book lists; an hourly rate is counted as a full-time year of 2,080 hours, and rates that can’t be read as yearly are left out of that average. ↩

Sources: State of Iowa Salary Book, Iowa Data Hub dataset 1001 (Department of Administrative Services), FY2007 on.