Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,017
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$10,743
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,352
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
$58,760
Kept after tax
$48,017
Worth in national money
$54,352
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays this job a middle wage of $58,760, 46 of 51 states and about 8.72% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 206 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,760 you keep $48,017 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,352 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,040, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's $58,760 median for middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education places it 46 of 51 states, about 8.72% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 206 of 484 in Louisiana places middle school teachers, except special and career/technical education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $48,017 after the full tax stack, from $58,760. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,352 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,040 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,020 |
| This salary | $58,760 |
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 | $48,017 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,394 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,522 |
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 | $57,047 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,260 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,760 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,260 and the ninetieth is $78,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $48,017, worked from $58,760. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 206 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,352 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 206.
- The Louisiana median of $58,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,260 to $78,020. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Louisiana take-home of $48,017, on $58,760 for work ranking 206 of 484 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 206 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,352, worked from $58,760, 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 206 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,260 at the tenth percentile, $78,020 at the ninetieth.
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 $54,352.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,017 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,260 to $78,020) 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 $54,352 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 $48,017 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.