Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,132
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$5,798
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,239
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
$36,930
Kept after tax
$31,132
Worth in national money
$35,239
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $36,930. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 19.6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, this job lands at 384. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,930 you keep $31,132, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $35,239 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,230, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For medical secretaries and administrative assistants, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $36,930, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.6%. 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 384 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.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for medical secretaries and administrative assistants on $36,930 is $31,132. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $35,239 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 $39,230 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,050 |
| This salary | $36,930 |
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 | $31,132 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,853 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,459 |
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 | $36,032 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,974 |
| 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 medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Louisiana earn under $36,930 and half over. The published range runs $30,090 at the tenth percentile to $49,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $31,132 take-home in Louisiana comes from $36,930. 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 384 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,239 uses one figure for the whole of Louisiana. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 484 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 384.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical secretaries and administrative assistants in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,090 to $49,050; 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 $31,132, from $36,930, 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 384 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,239, worked from $36,930, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Louisiana address, on work sitting at 384 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 $39,230, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,090 and the top tenth $49,050, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,239 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, $31,132 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.
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 $39,230. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,090 to $49,050) 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 $35,239 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 $31,132 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.