The highest paying job in Louisiana is Nurse Anesthetists, with a median salary of $225,440 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in LA based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nurse Anesthetists | $225,440 | $242,720 | 890 |
| 2 | Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric | $212,890 | $229,500 | N/A |
| 3 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $203,740 | $215,330 | 1,000 |
| 4 | Dentists, General | $179,600 | $185,180 | 1,140 |
| 5 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $167,840 | $172,940 | 1,390 |
| 6 | Podiatrists | $167,000 | $146,190 | 90 |
| 7 | Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary | $138,600 | $144,810 | N/A |
| 8 | Petroleum Engineers | $134,630 | $125,910 | 920 |
| 9 | Industrial Production Managers | $133,050 | $144,000 | 2,360 |
| 10 | Chemical Engineers | $131,180 | $139,380 | 780 |
| 11 | Pharmacist | $129,650 | $125,450 | 5,010 |
| 12 | Physician Assistants | $129,610 | $124,380 | 1,770 |
| 13 | Law Teachers, Postsecondary | $129,470 | $143,100 | N/A |
| 14 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $128,230 | $143,880 | 2,560 |
| 15 | Industrial Engineers | $126,960 | $128,000 | 2,000 |
| 16 | Nurse Practitioners | $125,980 | $124,850 | 4,480 |
| 17 | Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | $124,280 | $123,320 | 250 |
| 18 | Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers | $124,090 | $130,740 | 150 |
| 19 | Environmental Engineers | $123,210 | $123,840 | 250 |
| 20 | Sales Engineers | $122,250 | $122,250 | N/A |
| 21 | Chief Executives | $121,490 | $175,570 | 670 |
| 22 | Aerospace Engineers | $121,430 | $127,100 | 90 |
| 23 | Commercial Pilots | $120,710 | $129,310 | 880 |
| 24 | Veterinarian | $120,630 | $144,490 | 890 |
| 25 | Optometrists | $120,080 | $127,470 | 230 |
Average Salary in Louisiana · All Louisiana Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Louisiana are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Nurse Anesthetists, pays $163,532 more than the state average of $61,907 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $120,080, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Louisiana's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.