Office Machine Operators, Except Computer in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,155
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$5,805
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,265
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
$36,960
Kept after tax
$31,155
Worth in national money
$35,265
State rank
35
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $36,960. That is 35 of 47 states, and about 9.77% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, this job lands at 383. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,960 you keep $31,155 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,265 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $38,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- For office machine operators, except computer, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $36,960, ranking 35 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 9.77%. 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 383 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $31,155 after the full tax stack, from $36,960. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,265 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $38,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,980 |
| This salary | $36,960 |
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 | $31,155 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,877 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,461 |
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 | $36,061 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,976 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Louisiana earn less than $36,960. The published range is $20,800 up to $49,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $31,155, from $36,960, 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 383 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,265 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 383.
- Reported values are medians; for office machine operators, except computer in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $20,800 to $49,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $31,155 from $36,960. 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 383 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,265, worked from $36,960, 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 383 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 $38,110, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $20,800, the highest tenth $49,980, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $35,265 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $31,155 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 47 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 $38,110. 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 ($20,800) and the ninetieth ($49,980) 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 $35,265 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 $31,155 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.