Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,882
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$20,678
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,233
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
$91,560
Kept after tax
$70,882
Worth in national money
$80,233
State rank
19
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Louisiana pays this job around $91,560 at the midpoint, 19 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Louisiana this is well-paid work. Of 484 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 61 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $91,560 the take-home is $70,882; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $80,233 would nationally. The average comes to $100,990, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers the Louisiana median is $91,560, ranking 19 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Louisiana publishes a median for, geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers sits 61 of 484 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers in Louisiana, on $91,560, is $70,882 — equivalent to $80,233 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 $100,990 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,660 |
| This salary | $91,560 |
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 | $70,882 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,242 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,861 |
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 | $88,205 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,715 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $91,560 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $51,990 and the ninetieth is $158,660 — 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 $70,882, worked from $91,560. 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 61 of 484.
- Two cautions on $80,233, the adjusted value of that $91,560 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Louisiana. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 61 of 484 locally.
- The Louisiana median of $91,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $51,990 to $158,660. 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 $70,882, on $91,560 for work ranking 61 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 61 of 484 in the state.
- This $80,233 adjusted figure, worked from $91,560, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 61 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 61 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 $100,990, 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 $51,990 and the top tenth $158,660 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $80,233 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 $70,882.
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 50 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 $100,990. 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 ($51,990) and the ninetieth ($158,660) 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 $80,233 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 $70,882 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.