Salary data is based on the Iowa City, IA metropolitan area and applied to Iowa City using local cost-of-living adjustments.

Patternmakers Salaries in Iowa City, IA

Average Base Pay

$56,514/yr

2% below national average

Monthly

$4,710

Hourly

$27

Cost Index

Patternmakers in Iowa City, IA earn an average of $56,514 per year, with most salaries falling between $45,211 and $67,817 depending on experience, employer, and specialization. At 2% below the national average, Iowa City offers a more modest rate for this role, in part reflecting a local cost of living index of 91. For professionals evaluating a move or negotiating an offer, the headline salary is only part of the picture—what matters most is how far that income actually goes once taxes, rent, and daily expenses are factored in. The sections below break that down in full for Iowa City.

Salary Range

The chart below shows the full compensation spectrum for this role, from entry-level to senior positions. The highlighted center bars represent the 25th–75th percentile band where most professionals are paid.

$42K
Low

$57K
Median

$71K
High

25th percentile: $48K75th percentile: $65K

About Patternmakers

Manufacturing Engineers develop, implement, and improve manufacturing processes that transform raw materials and components into finished products efficiently, safely, and to quality standards. They design and commission production lines, select manufacturing equipment, develop process parameters and work instructions, and troubleshoot production problems. In new product introduction, manufacturing engineers collaborate with product design teams from early development to ensure that product designs are manufacturable—flagging design features that are difficult or costly to produce and proposing design changes that improve producibility. They conduct process validation studies demonstrating that processes consistently produce output within specifications, write manufacturing process documentation, and develop operator training materials. Process improvement is continuous: manufacturing engineers collect and analyze production data, identify sources of scrap, yield loss, and cycle time inefficiency, and implement lean manufacturing improvements including 5S, standardized work, and error-proofing (poka-yoke). In regulated industries such as medical devices or pharmaceuticals, they manage process validation per FDA and ISO requirements.

What Patternmakers Do

Design and implement manufacturing processes for new or existing products
Select, specify, and commission manufacturing equipment and tooling
Develop process parameters, work instructions, and operator training materials
Conduct process capability studies and manufacturing process validation
Troubleshoot production quality and efficiency problems
Collaborate with product design on design for manufacturability
Lead lean manufacturing improvement projects (5S, kaizen, standard work)
Manage process documentation and engineering change control

Key Skills & Qualifications

Manufacturing process design and optimization
CAD software for fixture and tooling design
Statistical process control (SPC) and process capability analysis
Lean manufacturing tools (5S, Kanban, SMED, poka-yoke)
Design for manufacturability and assembly (DFM/DFA)
Process validation methodology (IQ/OQ/PQ)
PLC and automation fundamentals
Engineering change management and document control

Career Path

Manufacturing Engineer I
Manufacturing Engineer II
Senior Manufacturing Engineer
Lead Manufacturing Engineer / Process Engineering Manager
Director of Manufacturing Engineering

Patternmakers Market in Iowa City, IA

Salary Competitiveness

Iowa City salaries for Patternmakers track closely with the national median, diverging by less than 4%. This alignment suggests a competitive but balanced local market—employers are broadly in step with national pay scales, which can make benchmark comparisons more reliable when negotiating.

Cost of Living Impact

Iowa City sits close to the national cost average. Monthly essential expenses represent about 69% of take-home pay for this role—a midrange ratio that allows for modest savings and discretionary spending, provided housing costs remain stable.

Effective Purchasing Power

The purchasing power of $56,514 for a Patternmakers in Iowa City is moderate: enough to meet essential expenses and build incremental savings, but requiring deliberate budgeting to avoid margin erosion—especially as rent and healthcare costs have outpaced wage growth across many mid-tier markets.

vs. National Avg

-2%

Cost Pressure

69%

Purchasing Power

Moderate

Take-Home Pay Calculator

Enter any gross salary to see how federal and state taxes affect your actual take-home pay, broken down by year, month, and week. Results use an estimated effective tax rate of 27% based on this location and income level.

Annual Salary

Take-home (73%)Taxes (27%)

Annual Net

$41,255

Monthly

$3,438

Weekly

$793

Eff. Tax Rate

27%

A gross salary of $56,514 for a Patternmakers in Iowa City translates to roughly $3,438 in monthly take-home pay after estimated federal and state taxes. Set against monthly living costs of $2,358—covering housing, food, transportation, utilities, and healthcare—that leaves approximately $1,080 per month in disposable income. That margin, not the gross number, is what determines whether you can comfortably cover rent, build savings, and afford discretionary spending in Iowa City's current market.

How far does this salary go in Iowa City?

Cost of Living in Iowa City

Estimated monthly expenses for a single person in Iowa City, benchmarked against US regional price indices for housing, food, transportation, utilities, and healthcare.

Cost Index

Below Avg — US average is 100. Based on a single person (1-bed apartment).

🏠Housing / Rent$1,356/mo

🍔Food & Groceries$452/mo

🚗Transportation$122/mo

💡Utilities$159/mo

🏥Healthcare$269/mo

Monthly$2,358

Annual$28,296

Disposable Income$1,080

Financial Reality Check

This section compares estimated monthly take-home pay against typical living costs in Iowa City to show your real disposable income—the amount remaining after essential bills are paid each month.

Monthly Take-Home

$3,438

Living Costs

$2,358

Disposable

$1,080

Cost Index

Lifestyle

Tight

With a monthly take-home of $3,438, your estimated living costs in Iowa City are $2,358 ($28,296/yr). This leaves $1,080 per month in disposable income, indicating a tight standard of living. Iowa City's cost of living is 9% below the national average.

Overall, a Patternmakers earning $56,514 in Iowa City falls into a tight lifestyle tier and will need to budget carefully—essential costs consume a significant share of take-home pay, leaving limited room for savings or emergencies. With a cost index of 91, Iowa City is 9% more affordable than the national average, which extends your purchasing power. Regardless of tier, prioritizing retirement contributions, an emergency fund of three to six months' expenses, and incremental debt reduction will yield the greatest long-term financial stability—especially as living costs in Iowa City continue to evolve.