Cooks, Fast Food in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$21,802
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$3,158
12.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,678
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
$24,960
Kept after tax
$21,802
Worth in national money
$24,678
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cooks, fast food is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $24,960. That is 48 of 51 states, and about 19.2% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, cooks, fast food lands at 473. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $24,960 you keep $21,802, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $24,678 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $25,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For cooks, fast food, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $24,960, ranking 48 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.2%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Louisiana, this work ranks 473 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for cooks, fast food on $24,960 is $21,802. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $24,678 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $25,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $24,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $29,640 |
| This salary | $24,960 |
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 | $21,802 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $22,165 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,869 |
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 | $24,520 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,206 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $24,960 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,890 and the ninetieth is $29,640 — 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 $21,802, worked from $24,960. 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 473 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $24,678 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 473.
- The Louisiana median of $24,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,890 to $29,640. 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 $21,802, on $24,960 for work ranking 473 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 473 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $24,678, worked from $24,960, 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 473 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $20,890 at the tenth percentile, $29,640 at the ninetieth.
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 $24,678.
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, $21,802 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,890 to $29,640) 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 $24,678 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 $21,802 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.