What skilled trades pay in Louisiana, where the jobs are and how work is changing, from 37 public government sources. The best-paying trade here is telecom equipment installer at a $80,210 median. For every trade and metro, start from the Louisiana pay page.
How Louisiana compares
9 of the 39 trades we track in Louisiana pay more than in a typical U.S. metro. The biggest premiums are for telecom equipment installer (+29%), rebar worker (+24%) and welder (+19%), and the biggest gaps for rigger (-28%) and telecom line installer (-26%). Prices in Louisiana's metros run about 14% below the U.S. average, and a typical 1-bedroom rents for $911 a month (U.S. metros: $1,097).
Best-paying trades in Louisiana
Statewide median pay, BLS May 2025. The lowest-paying trade we track here is landscaper at $34,870.
Every trade in Louisiana
Statewide medians and jobs, BLS OEWS May 2025. “vs. U.S.” compares with the typical U.S. metro median for the trade.
Where the jobs are
- Construction Laborer: 22,100 jobs
- Maintenance Technician: 21,490 jobs
- Construction Supervisor: 14,070 jobs
- Welder: 13,690 jobs
- Electrician: 10,550 jobs
Louisiana metros, best pay first
Ranked by how each metro's trade pay compares with all U.S. metros, averaged across trades.
Construction hiring
- Monroe: +44.4% (7,478 workers)
- Baton Rouge: +6.2% (49,241 workers)
- Lafayette: +1.0% (10,056 workers)
- Slidell: -0.9% (5,638 workers)
- Shreveport: -1.8% (8,440 workers)
- New Orleans: -7.3% (20,608 workers)
Change in private construction jobs from a year earlier, 2026 Q1, metros with at least 5,000 construction workers (BLS QCEW).
Unions
4.4% of Louisiana workers belong to a union (5.5% are covered by a union contract), compared with about 10% nationally (all jobs, 2025).
Apprenticeships
Registered apprentices in Louisiana who finished or left a program in FY2020–2024 completed most often in machinist (97%), elevator installer (75%) and plumber (50%).
Wages and safety
Unpaid wages recovered
Since 2018, the U.S. Labor Department has concluded 264 wage cases against construction employers in Louisiana, recovering $4,220,598 in back wages for 3,359 workers.offer check and keep your own record of hours.
DOL Wage and Hour Division enforcement data, cases concluded 2018–2026. Counts only; employers aren't named here.
Safety inspections
In 2025, federal OSHA opened 91 inspections of construction worksites in the state. About 16% were set off by a complaint, a referral or an accident (8 after an accident or fatality); the rest were planned spot checks.
OSHA inspection data via the U.S. Department of Labor, construction (NAICS 23), inspections opened in 2025. Counts only.
Storm and disaster rebuild work
Since 2016, the Louisiana metros with the most federal major disasters are Baton Rouge (14), Houma (12) and New Orleans (11) (FEMA).
Veterans
Veterans: train on the job with the GI Bill
In Louisiana, 176 employers and programs are approved for GI Bill on-the-job training and apprenticeships, across all fields. Veterans in an approved trade apprenticeship can get a monthly housing allowance on top of apprentice pay. Search approved employers with the VA's GI Bill Comparison Tool.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, GI Bill Comparison Tool data, October 2026.
Common questions
What is the highest-paying skilled trade in Louisiana?
Telecom Equipment Installer pays the most of the trades we track, with a $80,210 statewide median (BLS, May 2025), followed by electrical lineworker and construction supervisor.
Which trade has the most jobs in Louisiana?
construction laborers, with about 22,100 jobs statewide, followed by maintenance technicians and construction supervisors.
Which Louisiana city pays the trades best?
Baton Rouge, compared with other U.S. metros across the trades we track, followed by New Orleans.
Is construction hiring growing in Louisiana?
In 2026 Q1, private construction jobs were up 44.4% from a year earlier in Monroe, the fastest-changing large market in the state, and down 7.3% in New Orleans.
Part of the State of Trade Pay 2026 report. Cite as “PayByTrade, State of Trade Pay in Louisiana 2026, payby.trade/report/la/.”