Mechanical Drafters in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,567
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$16,163
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,690
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
$77,730
Kept after tax
$61,567
Worth in national money
$69,690
State rank
6
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Louisiana pays mechanical drafters a middle wage of $77,730, ranking 6 of 47 states and sitting about 8.64% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Louisiana reports, mechanical drafters comes in at 100 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,730 you keep $61,567 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $69,690 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $86,680, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's median for mechanical drafters is $77,730, about 8.64% above the national figure and 6 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Mechanical drafters ranks 100 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $61,567 after the full tax stack, from $77,730. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $69,690 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $86,680 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mechanical Drafters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $142,240 |
| This salary | $77,730 |
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 | $61,567 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,513 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,330 |
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 | $74,964 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,981 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,730 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $44,460 and the ninetieth is $142,240 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $61,567, from $77,730, 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 100 of 484 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $69,690, the adjusted value of that $77,730 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 100 of 484 locally.
- The Louisiana median of $77,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $44,460 to $142,240. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $61,567 from $77,730. 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 100 of 484 locally.
- This $69,690 adjusted figure, worked from $77,730, 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 100 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 100 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 $86,680, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $44,460 at the bottom tenth to $142,240 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $69,690.
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 $61,567.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $86,680. 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 ($44,460) and the ninetieth ($142,240) 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 $69,690 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 $61,567 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.