Fast Food and Counter Workers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$20,088
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$2,712
11.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$22,738
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
$22,800
Kept after tax
$20,088
Worth in national money
$22,738
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fast food and counter workers is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $22,800. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 26.92% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Measured against other jobs in Louisiana, this one sits low: 477 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $22,800 you keep $20,088 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $22,738 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $24,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For fast food and counter workers, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $22,800, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 26.92%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Fast food and counter workers occupies position 477 of 484 in Louisiana's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $20,088 after the full tax stack, from $22,800. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $22,738 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $24,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $18,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $22,800 |
| Top tenth earn over | $33,320 |
| This salary | $22,800 |
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 | $20,088 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $20,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,760 |
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 | $22,438 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,077 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of fast food and counter workers in Louisiana earn under $22,800 and half over. The published range runs $18,610 at the tenth percentile to $33,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $20,088, worked from $22,800. 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 477 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $22,738 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 477.
- Figures are distribution medians for fast food and counter workers in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $18,610 to $33,320; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Louisiana take-home of $20,088, on $22,800 for work ranking 477 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 477 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $22,738, worked from $22,800, 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 477 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 $24,580 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $18,610 at the bottom tenth to $33,320 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $22,738 in national terms.
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 $20,088.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $24,580. 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 ($18,610 to $33,320) 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 $22,738 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 $20,088 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.