Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,530
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$5,330
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,426
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
$34,860
Kept after tax
$29,530
Worth in national money
$33,426
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $34,860. That is 48 of 50 states, and about 11.25% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, this job lands at 409. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,860 you keep $29,530 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $33,426 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $35,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $34,860, ranking 48 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 11.25%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Louisiana, this work ranks 409 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $29,530 after the full tax stack, from $34,860. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $33,426 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $35,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,350 |
| This salary | $34,860 |
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 | $29,530 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,190 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,359 |
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 | $34,039 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,853 |
| 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Louisiana earn under $34,860 and half over. The published range runs $26,540 at the tenth percentile to $44,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,530 take-home in Louisiana comes from $34,860. 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 409 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,426, the adjusted value of that $34,860 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 409 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,540 to $44,350; 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 $29,530, from $34,860, 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 409 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $33,426 — the adjusted value of that $34,860 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 409 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,540 and the top tenth $44,350, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $33,426 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 $29,530.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,540 to $44,350) 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 $33,426 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 $29,530 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.