Respiratory Therapists in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,890
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$15,350
20.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,791
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
$75,240
Kept after tax
$59,890
Worth in national money
$67,791
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for respiratory therapists. The middle earner takes $75,240, ranking 42 of 51 states — about 8.56% 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, respiratory therapists comes in at 115 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $75,240 you keep $59,890, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,791 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $74,690, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Louisiana ranks 42 of 51 for respiratory therapists, with a median of $75,240 — about 8.56% 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.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 115 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.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for respiratory therapists on $75,240 is $59,890. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,791 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 $74,690 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,200 |
| This salary | $75,240 |
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 | $59,890 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,761 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,235 |
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 | $72,581 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,849 |
| 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 $75,240. The published range is $61,520 up to $91,200, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Louisiana's $59,890, worked from $75,240. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 115 of 484.
- Two cautions on $67,791, the adjusted value of that $75,240 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 115 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for respiratory therapists in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,520 to $91,200. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Louisiana take-home of $59,890, on $75,240 for work ranking 115 of 484 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 115 of 484 in the state.
- This $67,791 adjusted figure, worked from $75,240, 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 115 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 115 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $61,520 and the top tenth $91,200, so most people doing this work in Louisiana sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $67,791 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 $59,890.
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 ($61,520 to $91,200) 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 $67,791 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 $59,890 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.