Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,579
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$3,621
13.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,690
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
$27,200
Kept after tax
$23,579
Worth in national money
$26,690
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for food servers, nonrestaurant. The middle earner takes $27,200, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 23.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Louisiana, this one sits low: 462 of 484 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $27,200 you keep $23,579 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $26,690 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $26,000.
- Louisiana ranks 51 of 51 for food servers, nonrestaurant, with a median of $27,200 — about 23.08% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 462 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 $23,579 after the full tax stack, from $27,200. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $26,690 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $26,000 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $18,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $32,540 |
| This salary | $27,200 |
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 | $23,579 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,009 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,983 |
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 | $26,678 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,366 |
| 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 $27,200. The published range is $18,580 up to $32,540, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $23,579, from $27,200, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 462 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $26,690, the adjusted value of that $27,200 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 462 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for food servers, nonrestaurant in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $18,580 to $32,540. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $23,579 from $27,200. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 462 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $26,690 — the adjusted value of that $27,200 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 462 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 $26,000 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $18,580 at the tenth percentile, $32,540 at the ninetieth.
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 $26,690 in national terms.
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, $23,579 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.
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 $26,000. 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 ($18,580 to $32,540) 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 $26,690 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 $23,579 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.