Postal Service Mail Carriers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,133
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$10,777
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,483
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
$58,910
Kept after tax
$48,133
Worth in national money
$54,483
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for postal service mail carriers. The middle earner takes $58,910, ranking 43 of 51 states — about 2.71% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Postal service mail carriers ranks 202 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,910 you keep $48,133 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,483 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $61,260, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 43 of 51 for postal service mail carriers, with a median of $58,910 — about 2.71% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 202 of 484 in Louisiana places postal service mail carriers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $48,133 after the full tax stack, from $58,910. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,483 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $61,260 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Carriers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,040 |
| This salary | $58,910 |
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 | $48,133 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,530 |
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 | $57,191 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,269 |
| 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 postal service mail carriers in Louisiana earn under $58,910 and half over. The published range runs $42,390 at the tenth percentile to $81,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $48,133 take-home in Louisiana comes from $58,910. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 202 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,483, the adjusted value of that $58,910 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 202 of 484 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail carriers in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,390 to $81,040; 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.
- Retained pay of $48,133, from $58,910, assumes a single Louisiana filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 202 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $54,483 — the adjusted value of that $58,910 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 202 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 $61,260 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,390 at the bottom tenth to $81,040 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,483 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Louisiana's own levy, $48,133 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $61,260. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,390 to $81,040) 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 $54,483 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 $48,133 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.