Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,998
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$8,102
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,143
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
$47,100
Kept after tax
$38,998
Worth in national money
$44,143
State rank
41
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 $47,100. That is 41 of 51 states, and about 21.86% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 298.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,100 you keep $38,998, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,143 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $51,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mental health and substance abuse social workers, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $47,100, ranking 41 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.86%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, mental health and substance abuse social workers sits at 298 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for mental health and substance abuse social workers on $47,100 is $38,998. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,143 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 $51,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,100 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,440 |
| This salary | $47,100 |
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 | $38,998 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,955 |
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 | $45,822 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,573 |
| 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 mental health and substance abuse social workers in Louisiana earn under $47,100 and half over. The published range runs $31,890 at the tenth percentile to $72,440 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,998 take-home in Louisiana comes from $47,100. 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 298 of 484.
- Two cautions on $44,143, the adjusted value of that $47,100 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 298 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for mental health and substance abuse social workers in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,890 to $72,440; 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 $38,998, from $47,100, 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 298 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- This $44,143 adjusted figure, worked from $47,100, 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 298 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 298 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $51,070 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $31,890 at the bottom tenth to $72,440 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 $44,143.
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, $38,998 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $51,070. 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 ($31,890) and the ninetieth ($72,440) 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 $44,143 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 $38,998 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.