- The middle half earn between $18.21 and $27.76 an hour.
- Iowa ranks 38th of the 48 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Iowa pays less than all 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 120 locksmiths on payrolls in Iowa.
- At the state median wage, a locksmith business needs to bill about $109.73 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Locksmith pay in Iowa, bottom to top
BLS files these as locksmiths and safe repairers: the people who open and repair locks, make keys, change locks and combinations, and install and repair safes.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $16.36 | $34,030 | $17.08 |
| 25th percentile | $18.21 | $37,870 | $20.75 |
| Median | $22.29 | $46,360 | $24.68 |
| 75th percentile | $27.76 | $57,730 | $31.04 |
| 90th percentile | $33.16 | $68,970 | $38.17 |
| Average (mean) | $23.66 | $49,210 | $26.67 |
Pay is bunched up in Iowa. The top tenth earn $33.16 an hour or more, about 2 times the $16.36 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.2 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.72 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $5.01 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $23.66, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Iowa compares with other states
Over a full year, the Iowa median of $46,360 is $4,960 less than the national $51,320.
In the state ranking, Iowa sits 38th, between Louisiana ($22.38) and North Carolina ($22.07). The range runs from $17.20 in Arkansas to $36.89 in the District of Columbia.
Every one of the neighboring states pays locksmiths more than Iowa. The closest is Wisconsin at $23.25, and the biggest gap is with Minnesota.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
How many locksmiths work in Iowa
About 120 locksmiths work on payrolls in Iowa, 0.8% of the 15,040 nationwide, the 34th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.79 times the national share.
What a locksmith business in Iowa should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a locksmith business in Iowa paying the state median of $22.29, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $22.29 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $49,910 |
| Break-even rate | ($49,910 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $93.27 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $93.27 ÷ 0.85 | $109.73 |
That is $109.73 per billable hour, 4.9 times the wage, and $4.20 less than the $113.93 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $27.76 in Iowa, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $119.34.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $18.21, the rate only drops to $102.57.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a locksmith in Iowa
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how locksmiths run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 49-9094, locksmiths and safe repairers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: locksmith salary by state.