Soil and Plant Scientists in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,131
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$11,069
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,613
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
$60,200
Kept after tax
$49,131
Worth in national money
$55,613
State rank
42
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Louisiana is among the lower-paying states for soil and plant scientists. The middle earner takes $60,200, ranking 42 of 46 states — about 23.65% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in Louisiana, this sits in the middle: 188 of 484 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,200 you keep $49,131, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,613 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $67,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Louisiana ranks 42 of 46 for soil and plant scientists, with a median of $60,200 — about 23.65% 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.
- Soil and plant scientists ranks 188 of 484 occupations in Louisiana by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for soil and plant scientists on $60,200 is $49,131. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,613 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 $67,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,150 |
| This salary | $60,200 |
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 | $49,131 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,551 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,592 |
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 | $58,433 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,345 |
| 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 $60,200. The published range is $35,360 up to $106,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Louisiana the take-home figure of $49,131, from $60,200, 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 188 of 484 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $55,613, the adjusted value of that $60,200 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 188 of 484 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for soil and plant scientists in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,360 to $106,150. 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 $49,131 from $60,200. 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 188 of 484 locally.
- This $55,613 adjusted figure, worked from $60,200, 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 188 of 484 in the state. The occupation ranks 188 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 $67,160, 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 $35,360, the highest tenth $106,150, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $55,613 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $49,131 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $67,160. 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 ($35,360) and the ninetieth ($106,150) 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 $55,613 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 $49,131 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.