Driver/Sales Workers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,637
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$5,653
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,678
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
$36,290
Kept after tax
$30,637
Worth in national money
$34,678
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Louisiana is 31 of 51 states for driver/sales workers, with a middle wage of $36,290. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Louisiana this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, driver/sales workers ranks 393. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,290 you keep $30,637, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,678 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $34,840, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Louisiana ranks 31 of 51 for driver/sales workers at $36,290. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Louisiana reports, driver/sales workers ranks 393 of 484, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for driver/sales workers on $36,290 is $30,637. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,678 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 $34,840 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Driver/Sales Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $17,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,150 |
| This salary | $36,290 |
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 | $30,637 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,339 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,428 |
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 | $35,416 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,937 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Louisiana earn less than $36,290. The published range is $17,770 up to $55,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $30,637, worked from $36,290. 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 393 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,678 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 393.
- Reported values are medians; for driver/sales workers in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $17,770 to $55,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $30,637, on $36,290 for work ranking 393 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 393 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,678, worked from $36,290, 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 393 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 $34,840 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $17,770, the highest tenth $55,150, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Louisiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $34,678 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,637 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $34,840. 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 ($17,770) and the ninetieth ($55,150) 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 $34,678 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 $30,637 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.