Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,662
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$9,468
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,422
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
$53,130
Kept after tax
$43,662
Worth in national money
$49,422
State rank
42
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $53,130, 42 of 50 states and about 15.24% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in Louisiana, this sits in the middle: 236 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $53,130 you keep $43,662, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,422 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Louisiana's $53,130 median for kindergarten teachers, except special education places it 42 of 50 states, about 15.24% 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.
- Kindergarten teachers, except special education ranks 236 of 484 occupations in Louisiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for kindergarten teachers, except special education on $53,130 is $43,662. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,422 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $54,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,530 |
| This salary | $53,130 |
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 | $43,662 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,870 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,248 |
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 | $51,627 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,928 |
| 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 kindergarten teachers, except special education in Louisiana earn under $53,130 and half over. The published range runs $44,720 at the tenth percentile to $60,530 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $43,662 take-home in Louisiana comes from $53,130. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 236 of 484.
- Two cautions on $49,422, the adjusted value of that $53,130 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 236 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for kindergarten teachers, except special education in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $44,720 to $60,530; 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.
- Retained pay of $43,662, from $53,130, assumes a single Louisiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 236 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 50 for it.
- This $49,422 adjusted figure, worked from $53,130, 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 236 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 236 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,720 at the bottom tenth to $60,530 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 $49,422 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 $43,662.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($44,720 to $60,530) 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 $49,422 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 $43,662 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.