Architectural and Engineering Managers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$118,075
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$44,775
27.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$133,652
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
$162,850
Kept after tax
$118,075
Worth in national money
$133,652
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $162,850, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Louisiana reports, this job comes in at 6 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $162,850 you keep $118,075 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $133,652 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $166,850, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana occupies the middle band for architectural and engineering managers: a median of $162,850, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Architectural and engineering managers ranks 6 of 484 occupations by median in Louisiana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $118,075 after the full tax stack, from $162,850. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $133,652 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $166,850 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Architectural and Engineering Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $119,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $162,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $218,970 |
| This salary | $162,850 |
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 | $118,075 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $122,574 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,514 |
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 | $156,267 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,684 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $162,850 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $119,600 and the ninetieth is $218,970 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $118,075, worked from $162,850. 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 6 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $133,652, the adjusted value of that $162,850 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 6 of 484 in the state.
- The Louisiana median of $162,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $119,600 to $218,970. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Louisiana take-home of $118,075, on $162,850 for work ranking 6 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 6 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $133,652 — the adjusted value of that $162,850 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 6 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $119,600 and the top tenth $218,970, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Louisiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $133,652 in national terms.
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 $118,075 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($119,600 to $218,970) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Louisiana rather than a national figure.
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 $133,652 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 $118,075 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.