Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,172
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$10,788
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,527
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
$58,960
Kept after tax
$48,172
Worth in national money
$54,527
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $58,960, 47 of 49 states and about 24.75% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 200.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $58,960 the take-home is $48,172; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,527 would nationally. The average comes to $64,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Louisiana's $58,960 median for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other places it 47 of 49 states, about 24.75% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other sits at 200 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in Louisiana, on $58,960, is $48,172 — equivalent to $54,527 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 $64,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,810 |
| This salary | $58,960 |
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 | $48,172 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,554 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,532 |
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 | $57,239 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,272 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,960 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $38,160 and the ninetieth is $103,810 — 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 $48,172, worked from $58,960. 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 200 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,527 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 200.
- The Louisiana median of $58,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $38,160 to $103,810. 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 $48,172, on $58,960 for work ranking 200 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 200 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,527, worked from $58,960, 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 200 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 $64,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $38,160, the highest tenth $103,810, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Louisiana sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $54,527 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $48,172.
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 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $64,950. 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 ($38,160) and the ninetieth ($103,810) 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 $54,527 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 $48,172 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.