Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$68,545
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$19,545
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,588
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
$88,090
Kept after tax
$68,545
Worth in national money
$77,588
State rank
22
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Louisiana pays this job around $88,090 at the midpoint, 22 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Louisiana this is well-paid work. Of 484 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 67 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $88,090 you keep $68,545, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $77,588 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $93,270, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For political science teachers, postsecondary the Louisiana median is $88,090, ranking 22 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Louisiana publishes a median for, political science teachers, postsecondary sits 67 of 484 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for political science teachers, postsecondary on $88,090 is $68,545. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $77,588 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $93,270 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,990 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $147,350 |
| This salary | $88,090 |
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 | $68,545 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,801 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,728 |
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 | $84,883 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,531 |
| 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 political science teachers, postsecondary in Louisiana earn under $88,090 and half over. The published range runs $49,990 at the tenth percentile to $147,350 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 $68,545, worked from $88,090. 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 67 of 484.
- Two cautions on $77,588, the adjusted value of that $88,090 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 67 of 484 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for political science teachers, postsecondary in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,990 to $147,350; 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 $68,545, on $88,090 for work ranking 67 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 67 of 484 in the state.
- This $77,588 adjusted figure, worked from $88,090, 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 67 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 67 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 $93,270 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $49,990 and the top tenth $147,350 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $77,588 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 $68,545 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 45 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 $93,270. 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 ($49,990) and the ninetieth ($147,350) 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 $77,588 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 $68,545 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.