Median pay · Louisiana
$15,080A year, or $7 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $15,080 | $7 |
| 25th percentile | $15,080 | $7 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $15,080 | $7 |
| 75th percentile | $23,350 | $11 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $38,060 | $18 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $22,350 | $11 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in LouisianaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$15,080
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$7.25
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$1,155 a month at an effective rate of 8.1%.$13,860 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Louisiana sit at 88.2 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$17,096
- Against the national medianThe national median is $35,230.57.2% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.2 against the nation's 1.00.33,870
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $15,080 in Louisiana, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $15,080 is worth in Louisiana
Prices in Louisiana sit at 88.2 against a national average of 100, so $15,080 earned here buys what $17,096 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 63.1 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Louisiana takes in $60,756, so this occupation's median is 0.25 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 20% more concentrated in Louisiana than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for waiters or waitresses in Louisiana
Louisiana ranks 51 of 51 states by median pay for waiters or waitresses, among the lowest-paying in the country.
Rents in Louisiana index at 63.1 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 88.2, a gap of -25.1 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
Prices in Louisiana index at 88.2 (U.S. = 100), so the $15,080 median buys roughly what $17,096 would at national prices, $2,016 more.
The average here is $22,350, well above the median of $15,080. A smaller group of high earners lifts the average, so the median is the better guide to what most waiters or waitresses in Louisiana are paid.
Common questions
Waiter or Waitress pay in Louisiana, answered
How much does a waiter or waitress make in Louisiana?
The median wage for waiters or waitresses in Louisiana is $15,080 a year, or $7.25 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average waiter or waitress salary in Louisiana?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for waiters or waitresses in Louisiana is $22,350 a year. The median is $15,080.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for a waiter or waitress in Louisiana?
The median hourly wage is $7.25. At a full-time year that lines up with about $15,080 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for a waiter or waitress in Louisiana?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Louisiana, the lowest-paid 10% of waiters or waitresses earn under $15,080 a year and a quarter earn under $15,080 ($7.25 and $7.25 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a waiter or waitress in Louisiana?
The overall salary range for waiters or waitresses in Louisiana spans from $15,080 for the bottom 10% to $38,060 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $15,080 and $23,350 a year, with the overall median at $15,080.
What is the take-home pay for a waiter or waitress in Louisiana?
On the median wage of $15,080, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $13,860 a year, or roughly $1,155 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 8.1%.
Louisiana takes $66 of it in state income tax.
How much does a waiter or waitress make a month in Louisiana?
On the median annual salary of $15,080, estimated take-home pay is roughly $1,155 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $533 net.
Do waiters or waitresses earn more in Louisiana than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in Louisiana is 57.2% below the national median of $35,230.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Louisiana sit at 88.2 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $15,080 a good salary in Louisiana?
It is 0.25 times the median household income of $60,756. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Louisiana run at 88.2 against a national average of 100, with rents at 63.1, so $15,080 here buys about what $17,096 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid waiters or waitresses earn in Louisiana?
The top tenth earn $38,060 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $15,080.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Louisiana someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many waiters or waitresses are there in Louisiana?
The survey counted 33,870 of these jobs in Louisiana for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 20% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.