How Louisiana taxes a paycheck
Louisiana's November 2024 special session produced the largest change to its income tax in decades. From 1 January 2025 the three brackets (1.85%, 3.5% and 4.25%) became a single 3% rate, and the standard deduction rose from $4,500 to $12,500 single and $9,000 to $25,000 married, indexed for inflation; for 2026 it is $12,875 and $25,750. The personal exemption was folded into the deduction. The trade-off was a higher state sales tax, 5% instead of 4.45%.
There are no local income taxes in Louisiana; parishes and cities rely on sales taxes, which are among the highest combined rates in the country at close to 10% in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Louisiana also no longer allows the deduction for federal income tax paid, which was removed by a 2021 constitutional amendment in exchange for lower rates.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Louisiana?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Louisiana pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $1,410 in Louisiana income tax, leaving roughly $48,980 a year or $1,884 every two weeks. The state share is 2.4% of gross, among the lowest of any state that taxes wages.
A married couple on $100,000 pays about $2,230, and a single filer on $150,000 about $4,110. The effective rate approaches 3% only at high incomes because the $12,875 deduction is large relative to ordinary salaries.
Louisiana compared with its neighbours
Louisiana borders Texas, which taxes no wages, and Arkansas and Mississippi, which do. On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $1,410 in Louisiana, $2,130 in Arkansas and $1,670 in Mississippi. The 2025 reform moved Louisiana from the most expensive of the three to the cheapest.
The Texas comparison is the one that drives the Shreveport and Lake Charles labour markets. A $60,000 earner pays about $1,410 in Louisiana that a Texas resident does not, though Louisiana's homestead exemption keeps property taxes far below Texas's, and that difference on a typical home exceeds the income tax gap.
Withholding forms and filing status in Louisiana
Louisiana employers withhold from Form L-4, which asks for the number of personal exemptions and dependents; the tables were rewritten for 2025 to apply the flat 3% above the new standard deduction. Married couples filing jointly get a $25,750 deduction, double the single figure, and the same rate, so a one-earner couple on $60,000 pays about $1,030 against a single filer's $1,410.
Louisiana has no reciprocal agreements. Texas residents working in Louisiana pay Louisiana tax on those wages; Louisiana residents working in Texas owe Louisiana tax on them with no credit. The 2024 reform also set the rate in statute with no trigger, so the 3% stands until the legislature acts again.