Recreational Therapists in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,131
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$9,019
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,689
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
$51,150
Kept after tax
$42,131
Worth in national money
$47,689
State rank
36
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays recreational therapists a middle wage of $51,150, 36 of 48 states and about 17.45% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Recreational therapists ranks 244 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $51,150 the take-home is $42,131; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,689 would nationally. The average comes to $53,360, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Louisiana's $51,150 median for recreational therapists places it 36 of 48 states, about 17.45% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 244 of 484 in Louisiana places recreational therapists 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.
- Post-tax income for recreational therapists in Louisiana, on $51,150, is $42,131 — equivalent to $47,689 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 $53,360 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,220 |
| This salary | $51,150 |
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 | $42,131 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,279 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,152 |
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 | $49,721 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,812 |
| 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 $51,150. The published range is $36,590 up to $67,220, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $42,131, from $51,150, 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 244 of 484 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,689, the adjusted value of that $51,150 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 244 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for recreational therapists in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $36,590 to $67,220. 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 $42,131 from $51,150. 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 244 of 484 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $47,689 — the adjusted value of that $51,150 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 244 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $53,360, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,590 and the top tenth $67,220, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $47,689.
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, $42,131 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 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $53,360. 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 ($36,590 to $67,220) 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 $47,689 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 $42,131 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.