Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,793
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$10,677
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,098
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
$58,470
Kept after tax
$47,793
Worth in national money
$54,098
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Louisiana pays this job around $58,470 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Louisiana, this sits in the middle: 211 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,470 you keep $47,793, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,098 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $59,310, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators the Louisiana median is $58,470, ranking 20 of 51 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.
- Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators ranks 211 of 484 occupations in Louisiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators on $58,470 is $47,793. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,098 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 $59,310 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,250 |
| This salary | $58,470 |
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 | $47,793 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,161 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,508 |
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 | $56,768 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,243 |
| 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 $58,470. The published range is $42,600 up to $75,250, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $47,793, from $58,470, 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 211 of 484 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $54,098, the adjusted value of that $58,470 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 211 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $42,600 to $75,250. 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 $47,793 from $58,470. 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 211 of 484 locally.
- This $54,098 adjusted figure, worked from $58,470, 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 211 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 211 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,600 at the bottom tenth to $75,250 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,098 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Louisiana then takes its own share, leaving $47,793.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,600 to $75,250) 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 $54,098 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 $47,793 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.