Jobs and pay in Louisiana

The highest-paying occupations in Louisiana

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1 further occupation is paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes it only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: emergency medicine physicians. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Pediatricians, general$502,720
2. Anesthesiologists$410,500
3. Obstetricians and gynecologists$404,550
4. Physicians, all other$350,920
5. Psychiatrists$345,040
6. Surgeons, all other$304,830
7. Family medicine physicians$255,330
8. Nurse anesthetists$222,130
9. General internal medicine physicians$210,390
10. Podiatrists$197,480
11. Dentists, general$170,750
12. Physicists$166,240
13. Architectural and engineering managers$162,850
14. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$155,250
15. Petroleum engineers$139,640
16. Aerospace engineers$136,970
17. Chemical engineers$134,800
18. Industrial production managers$133,210
19. Economics teachers, postsecondary$132,670
20. Pharmacists$132,410
21. Environmental engineers$130,510
22. Makeup artists, theatrical and performance$129,580
23. Business teachers, postsecondary$129,040
24. Physician assistants$128,870
25. Materials engineers$128,670

Where the jobs actually are in Louisiana

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Retail salespersons49,570 employed
2. Registered nurses48,970 employed
3. Cashiers46,350 employed
4. Fast food and counter workers45,720 employed
5. Home health and personal care aides45,060 employed
6. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand43,730 employed
7. General and operations managers43,220 employed
8. Waiters and waitresses33,870 employed
9. Office clerks, general31,790 employed
10. Stockers and order fillers31,710 employed
11. Food preparation workers30,920 employed
12. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers28,540 employed
13. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive28,040 employed
14. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners27,610 employed
15. Customer service representatives25,780 employed
16. Construction laborers22,100 employed
17. Elementary school teachers, except special education22,060 employed
18. Maintenance and repair workers, general21,490 employed
19. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers20,810 employed
20. Nursing assistants20,690 employed
21. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products19,120 employed
22. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks18,980 employed
23. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses17,600 employed
24. Security guards17,210 employed
25. Business operations specialists, all other17,010 employed

The best-paid Louisiana work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Makeup artists, theatrical and performance$129,580 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels$117,160 · Postsecondary nondegree award
3. Gas plant operators$108,350 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$106,640 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Ship engineers$103,430 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians$102,800 · Associate's degree
7. Power plant operators$101,170 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Chemical plant and system operators$100,060 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Air traffic controllers$99,810 · Associate's degree
10. Postmasters and mail superintendents$96,550 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Commercial pilots$95,940 · Postsecondary nondegree award
12. Radiation therapists$94,710 · Associate's degree
13. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$93,650 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Nuclear medicine technologists$87,670 · Associate's degree
15. Derrick operators, oil and gas$86,980 · No formal educational credential
16. Media and communication equipment workers, all other$86,260 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Chemical technicians$85,850 · Associate's degree
18. Dental hygienists$85,240 · Associate's degree
19. Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians$82,990 · Associate's degree
20. Gambling managers$82,140 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Precision instrument and equipment repairers, all other$82,140 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Funeral home managers$81,930 · Associate's degree
23. Logging workers, all other$80,930 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Diagnostic medical sonographers$80,710 · Associate's degree
25. Calibration technologists and technicians$80,670 · Associate's degree

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Louisiana does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Louisiana employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Extraction workers, all other lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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