Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,607
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$8,573
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,964
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
$49,180
Kept after tax
$40,607
Worth in national money
$45,964
State rank
41
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 $49,180, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 13.75% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 264 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,180 you keep $40,607 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $45,964 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,840, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 41 of 51 for cement masons and concrete finishers, with a median of $49,180 — about 13.75% 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.
- Position 264 of 484 in Louisiana places cement masons and concrete finishers 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $40,607 after the full tax stack, from $49,180. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $45,964 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,840 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,190 |
| This salary | $49,180 |
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 | $40,607 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,696 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,056 |
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 | $47,825 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,696 |
| 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 cement masons and concrete finishers in Louisiana earn under $49,180 and half over. The published range runs $35,670 at the tenth percentile to $74,190 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,607 take-home in Louisiana comes from $49,180. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 264 of 484.
- Two cautions on $45,964, the adjusted value of that $49,180 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Louisiana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 264 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for cement masons and concrete finishers in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,670 to $74,190; 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.
- Retained pay of $40,607, from $49,180, assumes a single Louisiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 264 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- This $45,964 adjusted figure, worked from $49,180, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 264 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 264 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 $52,840, 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 $35,670 and the top tenth $74,190 — 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 $45,964 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, $40,607 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 $52,840. 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 ($35,670) and the ninetieth ($74,190) 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 $45,964 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 $40,607 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.