Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,642
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$10,048
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,664
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
$55,690
Kept after tax
$45,642
Worth in national money
$51,664
State rank
37
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for earth drillers, except oil and gas is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $55,690. That is 37 of 48 states, and about 7.48% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Earth drillers, except oil and gas ranks 225 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $55,690 the take-home is $45,642; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,664 would nationally. The average comes to $57,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For earth drillers, except oil and gas, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $55,690, ranking 37 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 7.48%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 225 of 484 in Louisiana places earth drillers, except oil and gas 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.
- Post-tax income for earth drillers, except oil and gas in Louisiana, on $55,690, is $45,642 — equivalent to $51,664 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 $57,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,960 |
| This salary | $55,690 |
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 | $45,642 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,927 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,373 |
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 | $54,091 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,079 |
| 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 $55,690. The published range is $46,040 up to $74,960, 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 $45,642, worked from $55,690. 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 225 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,664, the adjusted value of that $55,690 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 225 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for earth drillers, except oil and gas in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,040 to $74,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $45,642, on $55,690 for work ranking 225 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 225 of 484 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $51,664 — the adjusted value of that $55,690 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 225 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 $57,680, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,040 at the bottom tenth to $74,960 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $51,664.
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 $45,642 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $57,680. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,040 to $74,960) 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 $51,664 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 $45,642 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.