Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,890
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$6,020
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,097
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
$37,910
Kept after tax
$31,890
Worth in national money
$36,097
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Louisiana. The middle earner gets $37,910. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 36.12% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 484 occupations Louisiana publishes, this job lands at 375. 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 $37,910 the take-home is $31,890; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,097 would nationally. The average comes to $45,030, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, Louisiana sits in the lower band at $37,910, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 36.12%. 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 375 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 substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in Louisiana, on $37,910, is $31,890 — equivalent to $36,097 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 $45,030 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,720 |
| This salary | $37,910 |
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 | $31,890 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,641 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,507 |
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 | $36,975 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,032 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $37,910 as a midpoint for Louisiana, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,860 and the ninetieth is $65,720 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,890 take-home in Louisiana comes from $37,910. 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 375 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,097 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 375.
- The Louisiana median of $37,910 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,860 to $65,720. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,890, from $37,910, 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 375 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 51 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,097, worked from $37,910, 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 375 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $45,030 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $29,860 and the top tenth $65,720 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $36,097 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 $31,890.
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 $45,030. 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 ($29,860) and the ninetieth ($65,720) 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 $36,097 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 $31,890 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.