Food Service Managers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,059
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$11,341
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,663
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
$61,400
Kept after tax
$50,059
Worth in national money
$56,663
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food service managers is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $61,400. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 11.51% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food service managers ranks 169 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $61,400 you keep $50,059 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,663 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $67,160, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food service managers, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $61,400, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 11.51%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 169 of 484 in Louisiana places food service managers 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $50,059 after the full tax stack, from $61,400. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,663 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $67,160 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,660 |
| This salary | $61,400 |
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 | $50,059 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,515 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,651 |
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 | $59,588 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,415 |
| 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 $61,400. The published range is $40,140 up to $103,660, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $50,059, from $61,400, 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 169 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $56,663 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 169.
- Reported values are medians; for food service managers in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,140 to $103,660. 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 $50,059 from $61,400. 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 169 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $56,663, worked from $61,400, 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 169 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 $67,160, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,140 and the top tenth $103,660 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $56,663.
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, $50,059 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 $67,160. 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 ($40,140) and the ninetieth ($103,660) 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 $56,663 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 $50,059 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.