Registered Nurses in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,251
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$16,979
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,596
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
$80,230
Kept after tax
$63,251
Worth in national money
$71,596
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for registered nurses. The middle earner takes $80,230, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 17.75% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 484 occupations Louisiana reports, registered nurses comes in at 86 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $80,230 you keep $63,251 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $71,596 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $84,190, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana ranks 44 of 51 for registered nurses, with a median of $80,230 — about 17.75% 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.
- Registered nurses ranks 86 of 484 occupations by median in Louisiana, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $63,251 after the full tax stack, from $80,230. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $71,596 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $84,190 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,740 |
| This salary | $80,230 |
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 | $63,251 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,272 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,426 |
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 | $77,358 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,114 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $80,230 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,800 and the ninetieth is $104,740 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $63,251, from $80,230, 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 86 of 484 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $71,596, the adjusted value of that $80,230 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 86 of 484 locally.
- The Louisiana median of $80,230 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,800 to $104,740. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $63,251 from $80,230. 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 86 of 484 locally.
- This $71,596 adjusted figure, worked from $80,230, 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 86 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 86 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 $84,190, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $63,800 at the bottom tenth to $104,740 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $71,596.
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, $63,251 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 $84,190. 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 ($63,800 to $104,740) 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 $71,596 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 $63,251 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.