Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,619
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$7,991
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,714
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
$46,610
Kept after tax
$38,619
Worth in national money
$43,714
State rank
14
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Louisiana's middle earner gets $46,610, putting the state 14 of 46 — about 8.98% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 306.
- Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $46,610 the take-home is $38,619; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $43,714 would nationally. The average lands at $45,970, below the middle of the range.
- For sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood, Louisiana sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,610, ranking 14 of 46 and running about 8.98% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood sits at 306 of 484 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Louisiana, on $46,610, is $38,619 — equivalent to $43,714 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 $45,970 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,870 |
| This salary | $46,610 |
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 | $38,619 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,631 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,931 |
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 | $45,350 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,544 |
| 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 $46,610. The published range is $29,810 up to $56,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $38,619 take-home in Louisiana comes from $46,610. 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 306 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,714 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 306.
- Reported values are medians; for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,810 to $56,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $38,619, from $46,610, 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 306 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 46 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,714, worked from $46,610, 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 306 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,810 at the tenth percentile, $56,870 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Louisiana is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $43,714 in national terms.
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 $38,619.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,810 to $56,870) 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 $43,714 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 $38,619 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.