Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,734
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$20,606
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,065
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
$91,340
Kept after tax
$70,734
Worth in national money
$80,065
State rank
11
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $91,340, which ranks 11 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 13.69% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Louisiana. It ranks 62 out of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $91,340 you keep $70,734 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,065 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $92,100, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 11 of 50 states publishing a median for psychology teachers, postsecondary, at $91,340 — about 13.69% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Within Louisiana, psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 62 of 484 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $70,734 after the full tax stack, from $91,340. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,065 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $92,100 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,760 |
| This salary | $91,340 |
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 | $70,734 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,088 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,853 |
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 | $87,994 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,703 |
| 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 psychology teachers, postsecondary in Louisiana earn under $91,340 and half over. The published range runs $52,870 at the tenth percentile to $128,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $70,734 take-home in Louisiana comes from $91,340. 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 62 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $80,065 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 62.
- Figures are distribution medians for psychology teachers, postsecondary in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,870 to $128,760; 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 $70,734, from $91,340, 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 62 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $80,065, worked from $91,340, 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 62 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,870, the highest tenth $128,760, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $80,065.
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, $70,734 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($52,870) and the ninetieth ($128,760) 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 $80,065 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 $70,734 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.