Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,114
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$4,036
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,427
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
$29,150
Kept after tax
$25,114
Worth in national money
$28,427
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $29,150, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 18.28% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Louisiana, this one sits low: 445 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $29,150 you keep $25,114 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,427 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $33,220, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 50 of 51 for automotive and watercraft service attendants, with a median of $29,150 — about 18.28% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Automotive and watercraft service attendants occupies position 445 of 484 in Louisiana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $25,114 after the full tax stack, from $29,150. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,427 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $33,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,120 |
| This salary | $29,150 |
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 | $25,114 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,602 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,081 |
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 | $28,542 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,516 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of automotive and watercraft service attendants in Louisiana earn under $29,150 and half over. The published range runs $24,460 at the tenth percentile to $52,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $25,114, from $29,150, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 445 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $28,427 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 445.
- Figures are distribution medians for automotive and watercraft service attendants in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,460 to $52,120; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $25,114 from $29,150. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 445 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $28,427, worked from $29,150, 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 445 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $33,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $24,460 and the top tenth $52,120 — 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 $28,427 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Louisiana's own levy, $25,114 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $33,220. 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 ($24,460) and the ninetieth ($52,120) 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 $28,427 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 $25,114 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.