Security Guards in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,504
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$4,736
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,132
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
$32,240
Kept after tax
$27,504
Worth in national money
$31,132
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays security guards a middle wage of $32,240, 49 of 51 states and about 15.2% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Louisiana this is lower-paid work. Of 484 occupations the state publishes figures for, security guards ranks 426. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $32,240 you keep $27,504 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $31,132 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's $32,240 median for security guards places it 49 of 51 states, about 15.2% 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.
- Against every occupation Louisiana reports, security guards ranks 426 of 484, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $27,504 after the full tax stack, from $32,240. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,132 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,040 |
| This salary | $32,240 |
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 | $27,504 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,085 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,231 |
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 | $31,517 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,698 |
| 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 security guards in Louisiana earn under $32,240 and half over. The published range runs $23,660 at the tenth percentile to $49,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $27,504, from $32,240, 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 426 of 484 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,132 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 426.
- Figures are distribution medians for security guards in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $23,660 to $49,040; 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.
- Take-home for Louisiana is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $27,504 from $32,240. 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 426 of 484 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,132, worked from $32,240, 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 426 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 $36,080, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $23,660, the highest tenth $49,040, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $31,132 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 $27,504.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $36,080. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,660) and the ninetieth ($49,040) 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 $31,132 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 $27,504 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.