Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,140
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$16,440
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,338
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
$78,580
Kept after tax
$62,140
Worth in national money
$70,338
State rank
4
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $78,580, ranking 4 of 47 states and sitting about 35.39% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Louisiana. It ranks 98 out of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $78,580 the take-home is $62,140; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $70,338 would nationally. The average comes to $79,770, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Louisiana's median for chemical equipment operators and tenders is $78,580, about 35.39% above the national figure and 4 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Louisiana, chemical equipment operators and tenders ranks 98 of 484 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for chemical equipment operators and tenders in Louisiana, on $78,580, is $62,140 — equivalent to $70,338 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $79,770 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,210 |
| This salary | $78,580 |
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 | $62,140 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,111 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,363 |
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 | $75,778 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,027 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,580 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,480 and the ninetieth is $111,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $62,140 take-home in Louisiana comes from $78,580. 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 98 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $70,338 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 98.
- The Louisiana median of $78,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,480 to $111,210. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $62,140, from $78,580, 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 98 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 4 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $70,338, worked from $78,580, 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 98 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $47,480, the highest tenth $111,210, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $70,338.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Louisiana then takes its own share, leaving $62,140.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,480) and the ninetieth ($111,210) 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 $70,338 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 $62,140 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.