Shreveport Workers Take Home Less Money Than Others in Louisiana

Shreveport workers get the shaft when it comes to earning a living in Louisiana. Recent reports from the Louisiana Workforce Commission indicate that Shreveport ranks as having the lowest take home pay of any other community across the state.

A Shreveport worker’s average workweek is 34.3 hours, with an average hourly wage of $18.46, compared to an employee in the highest-ranking metro area, Houma – working nearly 44 hours and earning over $1,000 per week.

Financial experts say there is not much discretionary income for people working in Shreveport, especially if they are living above their means. “It depends on how you live. It’s not what you make, it’s what you spend,” Certified Financial Planner Diana DeCharles told The Shreveport Times. “You can live cheap if you want to. It’s all about choices.”

That means forgetting about living in a large home or driving an expensive car, says DeCharles, who adds that living child free and keeping debt to a minimum may be a workers only real chance of surviving in Shreveport.