Sewing Machine Operators in Louisiana

Machined metal parts and a CNC machine in a clean manufacturing workshop.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$25,462

after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax

Tax takes

$4,138

14.0% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$28,821

Louisiana costs less than average

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

$29,600

Kept after tax

$25,462

Worth in national money

$28,821

State rank

48

of 50 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Pay for sewing machine operators is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $29,600. That is 48 of 50 states, and about 19.28% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
  • Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, sewing machine operators lands at 442. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
  • Louisiana is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $29,600 the take-home is $25,462; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $28,821 would nationally. The average comes to $29,830, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
  • For sewing machine operators, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $29,600, ranking 48 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 19.28%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
  • Within Louisiana, this work ranks 442 of 484 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
  • Post-tax income for sewing machine operators in Louisiana, on $29,600, is $25,462 — equivalent to $28,821 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 $29,830 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.

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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$21,180
Half earn under$29,600
Top tenth earn over$38,100
This salary$29,600

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

Compare with
+$502take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Louisiana$25,462
Take-home in Texas$25,964
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,103

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

Moving to
$0$32,143
$32,143in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$28,976
Raise you would need+$2,543
Prices in Texas97 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 $29,600. The published range is $21,180 up to $38,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • In Louisiana the take-home figure of $25,462, from $29,600, 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 442 of 484 occupations here.
  • Two cautions on $28,821, the adjusted value of that $29,600 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 442 of 484 locally.
  • Reported values are medians; for sewing machine operators in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $21,180 to $38,100. 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 $25,462 from $29,600. 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 442 of 484 locally.
  • This $28,821 adjusted figure, worked from $29,600, 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 442 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 442 of 484 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $21,180 and the top tenth $38,100, 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 $28,821.

Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?

Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Louisiana adds its own income tax on top — which is why $25,462 of this wage survives to your account.

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 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($21,180 to $38,100) 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 $28,821 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 $25,462 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.