Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,820
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$8,050
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,942
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
$46,870
Kept after tax
$38,820
Worth in national money
$43,942
State rank
22
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,870, ranking 22 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Louisiana, this sits in the middle: 301 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,870 you keep $38,820 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,942 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,890, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana occupies the middle band for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic: a median of $46,870, ranking 22 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic ranks 301 of 484 occupations in Louisiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $38,820 after the full tax stack, from $46,870. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,942 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,890 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,980 |
| This salary | $46,870 |
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 | $38,820 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,840 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,943 |
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 | $45,601 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,560 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,870 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,220 and the ninetieth is $76,980 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $38,820, from $46,870, 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 301 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $43,942, the adjusted value of that $46,870 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 301 of 484 in the state.
- The Louisiana median of $46,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,220 to $76,980. 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 $38,820 from $46,870. 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 301 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $43,942 — the adjusted value of that $46,870 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 301 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 $50,890 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $37,220, the highest tenth $76,980, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Louisiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,942 in national terms.
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 $38,820 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $50,890. 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 ($37,220) and the ninetieth ($76,980) 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 $43,942 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 $38,820 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.