Architectural and Civil Drafters in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,757
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$11,253
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,322
Louisiana costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Louisiana — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$61,010
Kept after tax
$49,757
Worth in national money
$56,322
State rank
41
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $61,010, 41 of 50 states and about 7.77% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 178 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $61,010 you keep $49,757, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $56,322 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $68,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Louisiana's $61,010 median for architectural and civil drafters places it 41 of 50 states, about 7.77% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 178 of 484 in Louisiana places architectural and civil drafters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for architectural and civil drafters on $61,010 is $49,757. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $56,322 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $68,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Architectural and Civil Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $107,130 |
| This salary | $61,010 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Louisiana | $49,757 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,202 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,632 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $59,213 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,392 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Louisiana earn less than $61,010. The published range is $43,700 up to $107,130, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $49,757, worked from $61,010. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 178 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,322 uses one figure for the whole of Louisiana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 178.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and civil drafters in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,700 to $107,130. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $49,757, on $61,010 for work ranking 178 of 484 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 178 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,322, worked from $61,010, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Louisiana address, on work sitting at 178 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $68,500, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,700 and the top tenth $107,130 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Louisiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $56,322 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $49,757 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Louisiana is $68,500. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($43,700) and the ninetieth ($107,130) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Louisiana's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $56,322 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $49,757 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Louisiana income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.