Mechanical Engineers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,726
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$29,814
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$101,564
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
$119,540
Kept after tax
$89,726
Worth in national money
$101,564
State rank
8
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Louisiana pays mechanical engineers a middle wage of $119,540, ranking 8 of 51 states and sitting about 14.82% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Louisiana. It ranks 24 out of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $119,540 you keep $89,726 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $101,564 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $120,520, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's median for mechanical engineers is $119,540, about 14.82% above the national figure and 8 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Louisiana, mechanical engineers ranks 24 of 484 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $89,726 after the full tax stack, from $119,540. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $101,564 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $120,520 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $119,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $181,550 |
| This salary | $119,540 |
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 | $89,726 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,926 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,936 |
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 | $114,991 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,373 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $119,540 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $70,350 and the ninetieth is $181,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $89,726 take-home in Louisiana comes from $119,540. 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 24 of 484.
- Two cautions on $101,564, the adjusted value of that $119,540 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 24 of 484 locally.
- The Louisiana median of $119,540 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $70,350 to $181,550. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $89,726, from $119,540, 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 24 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 51 for it.
- This $101,564 adjusted figure, worked from $119,540, 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 24 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 24 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $70,350, the highest tenth $181,550, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $101,564 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Louisiana's own levy, $89,726 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($70,350) and the ninetieth ($181,550) 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 $101,564 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 $89,726 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.