Civil Engineers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,190
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$25,190
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,769
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
$105,380
Kept after tax
$80,190
Worth in national money
$90,769
State rank
5
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Louisiana pays civil engineers a middle wage of $105,380, ranking 5 of 51 states and sitting about 4.5% above the national middle.
- Within Louisiana this is well-paid work. Of 484 occupations with published figures in the state, civil engineers ranks 34 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $105,380 you keep $80,190 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $90,769 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $108,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's median for civil engineers is $105,380, about 4.5% above the national figure and 5 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Louisiana publishes a median for, civil engineers sits 34 of 484 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $80,190 after the full tax stack, from $105,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $90,769 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $108,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,610 |
| This salary | $105,380 |
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 | $80,190 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,965 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,392 |
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 | $101,435 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,448 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $105,380 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $64,570 and the ninetieth is $156,610 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $80,190 take-home in Louisiana comes from $105,380. 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 34 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $90,769, the adjusted value of that $105,380 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 34 of 484 in the state.
- The Louisiana median of $105,380 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $64,570 to $156,610. 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 $80,190, from $105,380, 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 34 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 5 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $90,769 — the adjusted value of that $105,380 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 34 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $64,570 and the top tenth $156,610 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $90,769.
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, $80,190 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($64,570) and the ninetieth ($156,610) 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 $90,769 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 $80,190 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.