Lawyers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,328
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$24,772
23.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$89,793
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
$104,100
Kept after tax
$79,328
Worth in national money
$89,793
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for lawyers is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $104,100. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 34.8% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Louisiana reports, lawyers comes in at 36 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $104,100 the take-home is $79,328; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $89,793 would nationally. The average comes to $127,520, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For lawyers, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $104,100, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 34.8%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Lawyers ranks 36 of 484 occupations by median in Louisiana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for lawyers in Louisiana, on $104,100, is $79,328 — equivalent to $89,793 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 $127,520 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $227,230 |
| This salary | $104,100 |
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 | $79,328 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,064 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,343 |
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 | $100,210 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,380 |
| 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 lawyers in Louisiana earn under $104,100 and half over. The published range runs $50,140 at the tenth percentile to $227,230 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $79,328 take-home in Louisiana comes from $104,100. 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 36 of 484.
- Two cautions on $89,793, the adjusted value of that $104,100 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 36 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for lawyers in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,140 to $227,230; 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 $79,328, from $104,100, 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 36 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 51 for it.
- This $89,793 adjusted figure, worked from $104,100, 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 36 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 36 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $127,520, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $50,140 at the bottom tenth to $227,230 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $89,793 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 $79,328.
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 $127,520. 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 ($50,140) and the ninetieth ($227,230) 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 $89,793 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 $79,328 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.