Transportation Security Screeners in Louisiana
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,397
after federal, FICA and Louisiana tax
Tax takes
$11,733
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,178
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
$63,130
Kept after tax
$51,397
Worth in national money
$58,178
State rank
29
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Louisiana pays this job around $63,130 at the midpoint, 29 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 155 among 484 occupations Louisiana publishes pay for.
- Here is where Louisiana does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $63,130 you keep $51,397, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $58,178 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $61,380, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For transportation security screeners the Louisiana median is $63,130, ranking 29 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 155 of 484 in Louisiana places transportation security screeners in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and Louisiana income tax, retained pay for transportation security screeners on $63,130 is $51,397. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $58,178 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 $61,380 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,280 |
| This salary | $63,130 |
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 | $51,397 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,905 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,735 |
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 | $61,254 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,680 |
| 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 transportation security screeners in Louisiana earn under $63,130 and half over. The published range runs $45,640 at the tenth percentile to $71,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $51,397 take-home in Louisiana comes from $63,130. 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 155 of 484.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,178 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 155.
- Figures are distribution medians for transportation security screeners in Louisiana, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,640 to $71,280; 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.
- Retained pay of $51,397, from $63,130, 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 155 of 484 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,178, worked from $63,130, 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 155 of 484 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,640 at the tenth percentile, $71,280 at the ninetieth.
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 $58,178.
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 $51,397 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,640 to $71,280) 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 $58,178 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 $51,397 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.