Introduction
The Louisiana Paycheck Calculator shows you how much money you really take home from each paycheck. You enter your pay, your pay schedule, and your tax details. The tool then takes out federal tax, Social Security, Medicare, Louisiana state tax, and any deductions you add. What is left is your net pay.
Louisiana uses a flat 3% state income tax. The state also follows the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Most parishes do not charge a local income tax, but you can add one if your employer withholds it.
This calculator works for both salary and hourly jobs. You can add overtime hours, dependents, health insurance, a 401(k), an HSA, and other pre-tax or post-tax deductions. It also lets you pick your W-4 version and claim tax exemptions if they apply to you.
Your results come with an itemized breakdown, charts, a step-by-step solution, and your take-home pay by hour, week, month, and year. You can also test "what if" ideas, like getting a raise, working extra hours, or saving more for retirement. Use it to plan a budget, check a pay stub, or compare a job offer in Louisiana.
How to use our Louisiana Paycheck Calculator
Enter your pay, your pay schedule, your tax forms, and any deductions. The calculator shows your take-home pay per paycheck, plus your federal, FICA, Louisiana, and local taxes, a full breakdown, a chart, and step-by-step math.
Pay Type: Pick Salary if you earn a set yearly amount. Pick Hourly if you get paid by the hour.
Salary Amount: Type your pay, or drag the slider. The box below shows what that equals per hour.
Gross Pay Method: Choose "Annual total salary" if you typed your yearly pay. Choose "Amount per paycheck" if you typed the gross on one check.
Hourly Wage: Type how much you make per hour. Louisiana uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Hours per Pay Period: Type the hours you work in one pay period. For 40 hours a week paid every two weeks, use 80.
Overtime?: Pick Yes if you work overtime hours. This opens two more boxes.
Overtime Wage: Type your overtime rate. It fills in at 1.5 times your hourly wage.
OT Hours / Period: Type how many overtime hours you work each pay period.
Hours per Week: Slide to your normal weekly hours. This keeps your hourly rate and hours per period in sync.
Quick-fill with a Louisiana role: Click a job button to load a common pay rate for that job in Louisiana.
Check Date: Pick the date on your paycheck. This sets the tax year used for rates.
Pay Frequency: Choose how often you get paid, like weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Number of Dependents: Type how many dependents you claim. Each one cuts $1,000 from your Louisiana taxable pay.
W-4 Version: Pick "2020 or later" if you filled out the new W-4. Pick "2019 or earlier" if you still use allowances.
Federal Filing Status: Choose Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household from your W-4.
Step 3 — Dependents: Type the yearly dollar amount from Step 3 of your W-4. Kids under 17 count $2,000 each; other dependents count $500 each.
Step 2 — Multiple jobs: Check this box if you have more than one job or your spouse also works.
Step 4a — Other Income: Type yearly income with no withholding, like interest or dividends.
Step 4b — Extra Deductions: Type yearly deductions above the standard deduction.
Step 4c — Extra Withholding: Type extra federal tax you want taken out of each check.
Federal Filing Status (Legacy): On the old W-4, pick Single, Married, or Married at the higher Single rate.
Federal Withholding Allowances: Type your number of allowances. Each one is worth $4,300 of yearly pay.
Additional Federal Withholding (Legacy): Type extra federal tax taken from each check under the old W-4.
Louisiana Filing Status: Choose Single, Married, or Head of Household for your state Form L-4.
State Withholding Allowances: Type your state allowances. Each one lowers your taxable wages by $1,000.
Additional State Withholding: Type extra Louisiana tax you want held from each check.
Elected State Withholding Percentage: Pick a flat percent of gross pay if you asked your employer to hold more state tax. Leave it at 0% if you did not.
Local / Parish Income Tax Applies?: Pick Yes only if your pay stub shows a local tax. Most Louisiana parishes have none.
Local / Parish Tax Rate: Type the local rate as a percent.
Local / Parish Withholding Allowances: Type your local allowances, if your city or parish uses them.
Additional Local Withholding: Type extra local tax taken from each check.
Additional Federal Withholding: Type any more federal tax to add on top of Step 4c.
401(k) quick percentage: Slide to the percent of gross pay you put in your traditional 401(k).
Pre-Tax Deductions: For each row, set the name, the amount type, and the amount. Keep the pre-tax box checked if it lowers your taxable pay. Click "Add Custom Pre-Tax Deduction" for more rows.
Post-Tax Deductions: Add items taken out after taxes, like a Roth 401(k) or wage garnishment. Click "Add Another Post-Tax Deduction" for more rows.
Tax Exemptions: Pick Yes only if you are exempt from a tax, then check each one that applies. Most people leave this on No.
Calculate and Reset: Click Calculate to update your results. Click Reset to put every field back to its default.
Louisiana Paycheck Basics
Your paycheck has two numbers. Gross pay is what you earn before anything comes out. Net pay, or take-home pay, is what actually lands in your bank account. The gap between them is taxes and deductions.
What Comes Out of a Louisiana Paycheck
- Federal income tax — based on your W-4 form, your filing status, and how much you earn.
- Social Security tax — 6.2% of your wages, up to a yearly wage cap.
- Medicare tax — 1.45% of all your wages. High earners pay an extra 0.9% above $200,000.
- Louisiana state income tax — a flat 3% rate for 2025 and 2026.
- Local tax — most Louisiana parishes do not have one, so this is usually $0.
How Louisiana State Income Tax Works
Louisiana used to have three tax brackets (1.85%, 3.5%, and 4.25%). Starting in 2025, the state switched to one flat rate of 3%. Before the 3% is applied, the state takes off a standard deduction of $12,500 if you are single or head of household, or $25,000 if you are married. Each dependent takes another $1,000 off your taxable wages. That is why your real (effective) state tax rate is lower than 3%.
Pre-Tax vs. Post-Tax Deductions
Pre-tax deductions come out before taxes are figured. Things like health insurance, a traditional 401(k), an HSA, or an FSA lower your taxable pay, so you pay less tax. Post-tax deductions, like a Roth 401(k) or wage garnishments, come out after taxes and do not lower your tax bill. Putting more into pre-tax accounts is one of the easiest ways to keep more of each check.
Pay Frequency Matters
How often you get paid changes the size of each check, not your yearly pay. Common schedules are weekly (52 checks), bi-weekly (26 checks), semi-monthly (24 checks), and monthly (12 checks). Bi-weekly and semi-monthly sound the same, but they are not. Bi-weekly gives you two months a year with three paychecks.
Louisiana Wage and Overtime Rules
Louisiana has no state minimum wage law, so the federal $7.25 per hour rate applies. Hourly workers must get overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their normal rate for hours over 40 in a week. Louisiana also does not charge employees for unemployment insurance or disability insurance. Employers pay those, so you will see $0 for them on your stub.
Why Your Take-Home Pay Can Change
Common reasons your check goes up or down: a raise, overtime hours, a new W-4, a change in your health plan cost, hitting the Social Security wage cap late in the year, or changing your 401(k) percent. A bonus can also look heavily taxed because withholding treats it like a bigger paycheck.