Paralegals and Legal Assistants in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,170
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$11,080
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,656
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
$60,250
Kept after tax
$49,170
Worth in national money
$55,656
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Louisiana is 31 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $60,250. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 187.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,250 the take-home is $49,170; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,656 would nationally. The average lands at $59,360, below the middle of the range.
- Louisiana ranks 31 of 51 for paralegals and legal assistants at $60,250. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, paralegals and legal assistants sits at 187 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 paralegals and legal assistants in Louisiana, on $60,250, is $49,170 — equivalent to $55,656 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 $59,360 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,230 |
| This salary | $60,250 |
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 | $49,170 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,591 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,595 |
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 | $58,481 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,347 |
| 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 $60,250. The published range is $36,960 up to $78,230, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $49,170, worked from $60,250. 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 187 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,656 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 187.
- Reported values are medians; for paralegals and legal assistants in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,960 to $78,230. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $49,170, on $60,250 for work ranking 187 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 187 of 484 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,656, worked from $60,250, 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 187 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,960 at the tenth percentile, $78,230 at the ninetieth.
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 $55,656 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 $49,170 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,960 to $78,230) 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 $55,656 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 $49,170 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.