How much does an Accountant make in Louisiana?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $69,540 for Accountants in Louisiana as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $57,680 and the 75th-percentile is $89,730.

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Louisiana?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 88.7 for Louisiana), the real-wage equivalent is $78,399 — what the $69,540 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $65,028 to $101,161.

How are Louisiana Accountant salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

Where does Louisiana rank for Accountant pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Louisiana ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Louisiana?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Louisiana.

Does CPA licensure raise accountant pay in Louisiana?

BLS aggregates accountants and auditors under SOC 13-2011 — CPA-licensed and non-CPA pay are not split. In practice, CPA-licensed accountants in Louisiana typically earn 10-20% above the all-accountant median, and the gap widens at the senior/manager level where CPA is functionally required for partner-track public accounting and CFO roles. Louisiana requires 150 semester hours of education to sit for the exam (the AICPA Uniform CPA standard).

How Much Do Accountants Make in Louisiana? $70K (2026 BLS + BEA)

TL;DR

Headline Accountant pay in Louisiana is $69,540. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $78,399.
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $8,859 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
Bottom quartile $57,680, top quartile $89,730. The P90 ($117,190) is roughly 2.5× the P10 ($46,950).
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #42 of 51; nominal rank is #47.

Wage breakdown — Louisiana

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$46,950	$52,931
P25 (lower quartile)	$57,680	$65,028
P50 (median)	$69,540	$78,399
P75 (upper quartile)	$89,730	$101,161
P90 (top tier)	$117,190	$132,120
Mean	$78,330	$88,309
Employment	13,560 Accountants in Louisiana

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Louisiana index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	88.7
Goods	93.0
Services	76.7
Rents	65.1

Louisiana sits below the national baseline (RPP 88.7), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 65.1.

After-tax take-home — Louisiana (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Accountant)	$69,540	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$6,546	9.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$1,711	3.0% flat (2025+ HB 2)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$5,320	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$55,963	80.5% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$63,093	÷ (88.7 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Louisiana state-tax burden means for Accountant take-home

Louisiana's state tax is light at this income tier (~2.5% effective). The bigger compensation lever is the below-baseline cost of living (RPP 88.7), which lifts real take-home above nominal after-tax — net real after-tax $63,093.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $81,680 for Accountants with mean pay of $93,520 and total employment of 1,448,290. Louisiana sits at #47 on nominal pay and #42 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Louisiana climbs 5 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an Accountant make in Louisiana?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $69,540 for Accountants in Louisiana as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $57,680 and the 75th-percentile is $89,730.
What is the real (cost-adjusted) Accountant salary in Louisiana?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 88.7 for Louisiana), the real-wage equivalent is $78,399 — what the $69,540 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $65,028 to $101,161.
How are Louisiana Accountant salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
Where does Louisiana rank for Accountant pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Louisiana ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
What are the limits of these Accountant salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Louisiana?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Louisiana.
Does CPA licensure raise accountant pay in Louisiana?: BLS aggregates accountants and auditors under SOC 13-2011 — CPA-licensed and non-CPA pay are not split. In practice, CPA-licensed accountants in Louisiana typically earn 10-20% above the all-accountant median, and the gap widens at the senior/manager level where CPA is functionally required for partner-track public accounting and CFO roles. Louisiana requires 150 semester hours of education to sit for the exam (the AICPA Uniform CPA standard).

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 13-2011, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Louisiana Accountant pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.