News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,821
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$8,929
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,339
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
$50,750
Kept after tax
$41,821
Worth in national money
$47,339
State rank
23
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 $50,750, ranking 23 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 246.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,750 the take-home is $41,821; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,339 would nationally. The average comes to $63,920, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Louisiana occupies the middle band for news analysts, reporters, and journalists: a median of $50,750, ranking 23 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.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, news analysts, reporters, and journalists sits at 246 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.
- Post-tax income for news analysts, reporters, and journalists in Louisiana, on $50,750, is $41,821 — equivalent to $47,339 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $63,920 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,750 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,120 |
| This salary | $50,750 |
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 | $41,821 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,958 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,132 |
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 | $49,336 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,788 |
| 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 news analysts, reporters, and journalists in Louisiana earn under $50,750 and half over. The published range runs $38,810 at the tenth percentile to $101,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $41,821, worked from $50,750. 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 246 of 484.
- Two cautions on $47,339, the adjusted value of that $50,750 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 246 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for news analysts, reporters, and journalists in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,810 to $101,120; 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.
- The Louisiana take-home of $41,821, on $50,750 for work ranking 246 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 246 of 484 in the state.
- This $47,339 adjusted figure, worked from $50,750, 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 246 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 246 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $63,920, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,810 at the bottom tenth to $101,120 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 $47,339.
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 $41,821 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $63,920. 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 ($38,810) and the ninetieth ($101,120) 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 $47,339 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 $41,821 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.