Tax Preparers in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,532
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$6,208
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,823
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
$38,740
Kept after tax
$32,532
Worth in national money
$36,823
State rank
41
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Louisiana pays tax preparers a middle wage of $38,740, 41 of 48 states and about 29.46% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 484 occupations Louisiana reports figures for, this is number 358.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $38,740 you keep $32,532 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $36,823 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $44,340, since top earners drag the number up.
- Louisiana's $38,740 median for tax preparers places it 41 of 48 states, about 29.46% 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.
- In Louisiana's occupational distribution, tax preparers sits at 358 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.
- Retained pay in Louisiana is $32,532 after the full tax stack, from $38,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $36,823 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $44,340 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,880 |
| This salary | $38,740 |
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 | $32,532 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,308 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,548 |
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 | $37,774 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,081 |
| 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 $38,740. The published range is $24,920 up to $61,880, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $32,532 take-home in Louisiana comes from $38,740. 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 358 of 484.
- One number stands for prices across all of Louisiana, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,823, the adjusted value of that $38,740 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 358 of 484 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for tax preparers in Louisiana the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $24,920 to $61,880. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $32,532, from $38,740, 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 358 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Louisiana, so $36,823 — the adjusted value of that $38,740 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 358 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 $44,340, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $24,920 at the bottom tenth to $61,880 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $36,823 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 $32,532.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $44,340. 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 ($24,920) and the ninetieth ($61,880) 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 $36,823 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 $32,532 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.