SalaryExplorer

SOC 25-9045 · May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary — Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA · 9 metro areas compared

$26,880 /year
2,840jobs in area
−26.9%vs US median

The median wage for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Baton Rouge, LA is $26,880 per year, substantially below the national median of $36,780 — a gap of 26.9%.

Wage distribution · annual

Shaded band holds the middle 50% of earners

US MEDIAN $36,78010TH$21,240MEDIAN$26,88075TH$34,97090TH$38,810

How pay has moved

$32,048$17,4832019202020212022202320242025$26,880
$19,910 in 2019 to $26,880 in 2025, +35% before inflation. BLS states that OEWS estimates are not designed for comparison across years: the occupational classification, the sampling frame and the survey method have all changed inside this window. Read the direction, not the exact difference.

The next ten years

Projected to decline

Change in jobs, 2024 to 2034
-1.5%
Openings per year
170,400
Typical entry-level education
Some college, no degree

Includes jobs opened by workers leaving the occupation, not only new positions.

Projections are published nationally only. This is the outlook for the occupation across the United States, not a measurement for Baton Rouge, LA.

Projections are based on 2024 employment and run to 2034. The wages above are from the May 2025 survey, a separate BLS programme on a different release cycle, so the two are not two views of one dataset.

Salary overview

The median wage for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Baton Rouge, LA is $26,880 per year, substantially below the national median of $36,780 — a gap of 26.9%. Pay ranges from under $21,240 at the tenth percentile to more than $38,810 at the ninetieth, with the interquartile range running from $22,410 to $34,970.

The area has 2,840 jobs in this occupation, which works out to 6.9 of every thousand jobs. Lake Charles leads the state's metro areas for this occupation, at $31,610. Set against every other occupation measured in the same area, it ranks 475th of 491 by median pay.

Percentile breakdown

Annual wages by percentile · Baton Rouge, LA · May 2025
PercentileAnnualvs US median
10th$21,240−42.3%
25th$22,410−39.1%
Median (50th)$26,880−26.9%
75th$34,970−4.9%
90th$38,810+5.5%
Mean$29,170−20.7%

Why the average earner is usually not a typical earner

Other metro areas in Louisiana

Median annual wage for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary, by metro area
#Metro areaMedianJobsRelative
1Lake Charles$31,610600
2Shreveport$30,5001,460
3New Orleans$28,5602,710
4Slidell$28,330850
5Monroe$28,210730
6Houma$23,630610
7Lafayette$22,0001,130
8Hammond$20,930510
9Alexandria$20,730480

What the pay is worth locally

Prices in Baton Rouge run 9.2% below the national average, so the median of $26,880 goes as far as $29,604 would elsewhere in the country. Measured that way it compares to the national median at 19.5% below the national median in real terms.

Published median

$26,880as reported by BLS

Local price level

90.8US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Adjusted for local prices

$29,604US average = 100 · BEA 2024

Why the state that pays most is usually not where pay goes furthest

Key takeaways

  • Median pay is $26,880 a year, 26.9% below the national median.
  • Published pay spans $21,240 to $38,810 between the tenth and ninetieth percentiles.
  • The area has 2,840 jobs in this occupation.
  • The highest-paying metro area covered is Lake Charles, at $31,610.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median wage for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Baton Rouge, LA?

The median annual wage is $26,880, as of May 2025. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than that and half earn less.

Is that higher than the national average?

The national median for this occupation is $36,780, so pay in Baton Rouge, LA is 26.9% lower. These figures are medians, not averages: half of workers fall on each side.

What do the top earners make?

The top tenth of this occupation in Baton Rouge, LA earns more than $38,810 per year. The ninetieth percentile is the highest figure the survey publishes.

What is the starting range?

The tenth percentile wage is $21,240 per year. The survey measures wages actually paid rather than experience level, so this reflects the lowest-paid tenth rather than entry-level pay specifically.

Which area nearby pays the most?

The highest median for this occupation among the metro areas covered is in Lake Charles, at $31,610 per year.

How many jobs are there in this occupation here?

The survey estimates 2,840 jobs in this occupation in Baton Rouge, LA. Self-employed workers are not included.

Source and methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 Wages are for wage-and-salary workers; self-employed workers are not included. Salary Explorer is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency. Full methodology.