New Orleans-Metairie, LA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in New Orleans-Metairie, LA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in New Orleans-Metairie, LA moved from $45,970 in May 2024 to $47,290 in May 2025 (+2.9%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- New Orleans-Metairie, LA sits -0.2 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Waiters and Waitresses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in New Orleans-Metairie, LA
Waiters and Waitresses publishes $16,640 here versus $35,230 nationally (-52.8%; 10,050metro-area jobs). Next is Bartenders at $21,230 locally versus $34,340 nationally (-38.2%).
- Waiters and Waitresses$16,640 in New Orleans-Metairie, LA sits 52.8% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (10,050 published local jobs).
- Bartenders$21,230 in New Orleans-Metairie, LA sits 38.2% below the national Bartenders median of $34,340 (4,200 published local jobs).
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$48,970 in New Orleans-Metairie, LA sits 35.7% below the national Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $76,210 (2,040 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$23,650 in New Orleans-Metairie, LA sits 33.9% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (6,600 published local jobs).
Waiters and Waitresses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for New Orleans-Metairie, LA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 35380 · New Orleans-Metairie, LA $60K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #193/528
- RPP-LOW 92.6
- OCC-MOST 504 occs
- TOP-LEAD Emergency Medi… · $336K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -0.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Pueblo, CO
- BOOK-FULL 489 rows · May 2025
Read with Pueblo, CO ($39 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around New Orleans-Metairie, LA
Employment scale inside New Orleans-Metairie, LA's top-pay list
Financial Managers and Physicians, All Other lead published employment inside New Orleans-Metairie, LA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 1,970 jobs · $134,110
- 2. Physicians, All Other 1,910 jobs · $326,440
- 3. Pharmacists 1,470 jobs · $128,100
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 800 jobs · $131,570
- 5. Industrial Production Managers 580 jobs · $147,980
- 6. Architectural and Engineering Managers 560 jobs · $165,620
- 7. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products 510 jobs · $127,030
- 8. Industrial Engineers 460 jobs · $127,340
- 9. Petroleum Engineers 320 jobs · $148,390
- 10. Dentists, General 270 jobs · $198,050
- 11. Family Medicine Physicians 250 jobs · $332,690
- 12. Marketing Managers 250 jobs · $126,740
- 13. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 240 jobs · $137,540
- 14. Ship Engineers 230 jobs · $132,710
- 15. Veterinarians 200 jobs · $128,360
- 16. Nurse Anesthetists 190 jobs · $216,280
- 17. Chemical Engineers 190 jobs · $136,870
- 18. Emergency Medicine Physicians 140 jobs · $336,290
Occupations Tracked
504
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$60,202
employment-weighted, 489 complete rows
Top Salary
$336,290
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
92.6
7% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $336,290 |
| 2 | Family Medicine Physicians | $332,690 |
| 3 | Physicians, All Other | $326,440 |
| 4 | Nurse Anesthetists | $216,280 |
| 5 | Dentists, General | $198,050 |
| 6 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $165,620 |
| 7 | Aerospace Engineers | $149,430 |
| 8 | Petroleum Engineers | $148,390 |
| 9 | Industrial Production Managers | $147,980 |
| 10 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $137,540 |
| 11 | Chemical Engineers | $136,870 |
| 12 | Optometrists | $136,200 |
| 13 | Commercial Pilots | $135,950 |
| 14 | Financial Managers | $134,110 |
| 15 | Sales Engineers | $133,010 |
| 16 | Ship Engineers | $132,710 |
| 17 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $131,570 |
| 18 | Natural Sciences Managers | $129,960 |
| 19 | Purchasing Managers | $128,670 |
| 20 | Veterinarians | $128,360 |
| 21 | Pharmacists | $128,100 |
| 22 | Industrial Engineers | $127,340 |
| 23 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $127,030 |
| 24 | Marketing Managers | $126,740 |
| 25 | Computer Network Architects | $126,260 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in New Orleans-Metairie, LA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Waiters and Waitresses | $16,640 |
| Bartenders | $21,230 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $23,060 |
| Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers | $23,280 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $23,420 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $23,650 |
| Parking Attendants | $23,920 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $24,720 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $24,960 |
| School Bus Monitors | $25,070 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in LA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside LA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($60,202 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in New Orleans-Metairie, LA? ▼
Which published medians lead New Orleans-Metairie, LA? ▼
What is the cost of living in New Orleans-Metairie, LA? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for New Orleans-Metairie, LA come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use New Orleans-Metairie, LA wage figures in a real decision
- Emergency Medicine Physicians leads published medians in New Orleans-Metairie, LA at $336,290/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Emergency Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $60,202 adjusts to about $65,015 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 92.6. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for LA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.