Federal wage data by metro, county and occupation, plus the real employer cost of a Texas hire
The average (mean) salary in Texas is about $66,000 a year, or roughly $31.70 an hour, based on employment-weighted BLS metro data for May 2025.
The median Texas wage is $47,499, which describes a typical worker far better than the average does.
Austin is the highest-paying Texas metro at $35.85 an hour, ahead of the US average of $34.54. San Antonio is the lowest of the big four at $29.39.
Texas has no state income tax, so a Texas salary takes home more than an identical salary in California or New York.
A $70,000 Texas salary costs an employer about $91,600 to $101,000 all in once payroll taxes, benefits and an EOR fee are added.
You can employ someone in Texas in days rather than months through an Employer of Record, with no US entity required.
The average salary in Texas is approximately $66,000 per year, or about $31.70 per hour, while the median Texas wage is $47,499 per year. The average sits well above the median because a relatively small group of very high earners in energy, technology, law and management pulls the mean upward.
Both numbers are useful, but they answer different questions. If you want to know what a typical Texan earns, use the median. If you want to know what total payroll across the state divides into, use the mean.
Texas sits just below the national picture. The US mean annual wage across all occupations was $69,770 in May 2025, against a national mean hourly wage of $33.54.
That gap closes once you adjust for prices. Texas costs roughly 3 percent less than the national average on the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity measure, and Texas levies no state income tax at all. In real spending power, a Texas salary is competitive with states that pay a higher headline number.
For employers, the headline salary is only the starting point. The number that actually hits your budget is the total cost of employment, which we break down later in this guide and in our EOR payroll process guide.
| Benchmark | Texas | United States | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean hourly wage, all occupations | ~$31.70 | $33.54 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Mean annual wage, all occupations | ~$66,000 | $69,770 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Median annual wage, all occupations | $47,499 | $50,980 | TWC / BLS |
| Median household income | $79,721 | $81,604 | Census ACS, 2024 |
| State minimum wage | $7.25 | $7.25 federal | TWC / FLSA |
| State income tax | None | Varies by state | Texas Constitution |
The average is the total wage bill divided by the number of workers, while the median is the wage of the person standing exactly in the middle. In Texas the gap between them is about $18,500 a year, which is large.
That gap is the single most misread number in Texas salary content. A jobseeker who reads “$66,000 average” and expects that offer will be disappointed roughly two thirds of the time.
The Texas Workforce Commission uses the $47,499 median as its own threshold for defining a high-wage occupation in the Texas High Growth report. If a role pays above that, the state itself classes it as high wage.
Use the median when you are: setting a realistic offer band for a mid-level role, comparing Texas against another state, or telling a candidate what the market looks like.
Use the mean when you are: modelling total payroll, forecasting a departmental budget, or comparing aggregate labour cost across countries.
Austin pays the most of any large Texas metro at $35.85 an hour, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth at $33.96, Houston at $32.51 and San Antonio at $29.39. Only Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth pay above the national average.
The spread between the top and bottom of that list is about $13,400 a year for the same statewide occupational mix. Location inside Texas moves pay more than most employers assume.
| Texas metro | Mean hourly wage | Annualised at 2,080 hrs | vs US average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos | $35.85 | $74,568 | +6.9% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | $33.96 | $70,637 | +1.3% |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | $32.51 | $67,621 | -3.1% |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels | $29.39 | $61,131 | -12.4% |
| United States (all areas) | $33.54 | $69,770 | Baseline |
Austin pays the most, at $35.85 an hour in May 2025, which is 6.9 percent above the US average. It is the only large Texas metro that beats the national number by a clear margin.
The reason is concentration, not generosity. Austin has an unusually heavy share of management roles at 10.4 percent of local employment, and its computer and mathematical occupations average $58.73 an hour against $57.73 nationally.
Dallas-Fort Worth is the interesting middle case. It sits barely above the national average on wages while offering materially lower housing costs than Austin, which is why so many corporate relocations land there.
Travis County, which contains Austin, leads Texas at $1,891 in average weekly wages, while Hidalgo County on the border is the lowest of the large counties at $836. That is a 2.3 times gap inside a single state.
Only 6 of the 28 largest Texas counties pay above the national average weekly wage. The state average is pulled down by a long tail of rural and border counties.
| County (metro) | Avg weekly wage | Annualised | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travis (Austin) | $1,891 | ~$98,300 | Highest large county |
| National average | $1,459 | ~$75,900 | Benchmark |
| Hidalgo (McAllen) | $836 | ~$43,500 | Lowest large county |
| Borden (rural) | $2,491 | ~$129,500 | Highest small county |
| Menard (rural) | $709 | ~$36,900 | Lowest county in Texas |
If you are budgeting a remote Texas hire, price the county, not the state. A support role budgeted at the Texas average is roughly 25 percent over market in the Rio Grande Valley and roughly 20 percent under market in Travis County.
Management is the highest-paying occupational group in every large Texas metro, averaging $58.70 to $71.09 an hour, while food preparation and serving is the lowest at $14.91 to $16.50 an hour. The spread between the two is roughly four times.
Occupational group data is more reliable than job-title data pulled from self-reported salary sites. It comes from an employer survey covering about 1.1 million establishments, not from voluntary submissions.
| Metro | Highest-paying group | Lowest-paying group | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | Management, $71.09/hr | Food prep and serving, $16.50/hr | 4.3x |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | Management, $68.53/hr | Food prep and serving, $15.69/hr | 4.4x |
| Houston | Management, $67.03/hr | Food prep and serving, $14.91/hr | 4.5x |
| San Antonio | Management, $58.70/hr | Food prep and serving, $15.10/hr | 3.9x |
Management, legal, and computer and mathematical occupations lead in every Texas metro, typically paying between $50 and $71 an hour. Architecture and engineering replaces computer roles in the top three in Houston, at $52.59 an hour, because of the energy sector.
Annualised, the Austin computer and mathematical group mean of $58.73 an hour works out to about $122,158 a year. That group covers everything from user support specialists at $31.76 an hour to database architects at $71.09, so treat it as a band, not a job offer.
Food preparation and serving is the lowest-paying group in all four large Texas metros, ranging from $14.91 an hour in Houston to $16.50 in Austin. Building and grounds cleaning, personal care and healthcare support sit just above it.
These groups also carry heavy employment weight. Food preparation and serving is 9.3 percent of Austin employment and 10.3 percent of San Antonio employment, which is a large part of why the Texas median sits so far below the mean.
Texas classes 438 occupations as high wage, meaning they pay above the $47,499 state median. Of those, 193 are projected to add 400 or more jobs by 2032, and 86.4 percent of that new high-wage growth will pay $55,000 or more.
That is the useful planning number for a hiring team. If you are opening a professional role in Texas and budgeting under $55,000, you are competing below the growth market, not inside it.
The Texas minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in 2026, identical to the federal minimum, and the tipped minimum is $2.13 an hour. Texas has not set a state rate above the federal floor.
The rule sits in the Texas Minimum Wage Act at Texas Labor Code section 62.051, with the tipped provision at section 62.052. Tips must bring a tipped worker up to at least $7.25 an hour in total.
Overtime follows the federal standard. Hours worked beyond 40 in a fixed workweek are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate. See the Texas Workforce Commission minimum wage page for the statutory detail.
No Texas city sets a general minimum wage above $7.25 for private employers. Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio all default to the state and federal rate.
Some individual employers and public sector bodies pay voluntary floors well above that, but these are policies, not law. Do not assume a local ordinance exists.
For how this compares internationally, our minimum wage by country guide covers 40 plus markets.
The tipped minimum cash wage in Texas is $2.13 an hour. The employer takes a tip credit for the difference, but must make up any shortfall if tips do not reach $7.25.
This matters in a state where food preparation and serving is one of the largest employment groups. Tip credit compliance is one of the most common wage and hour exposures in Texas hospitality.
A Texas worker keeps more of the same gross salary than a worker in almost any comparable state, because Texas levies no state income tax, no state disability insurance and no paid family leave tax. Federal tax and FICA are the only deductions on a standard Texas pay stub.
That is a genuine compensation advantage you can put in an offer letter. On a $100,000 salary, the absence of state income tax is worth several thousand dollars a year compared with California or New York.
No. Texas has no state personal income tax, and employers withhold no state income tax from paychecks.
This does not remove employer obligations. Texas employers still owe federal FICA, federal unemployment tax and state unemployment insurance to the Texas Workforce Commission.
A $70,000 Texas salary buys roughly what $72,100 buys at national average prices, because Texas prices run about 3 percent below the US average. Add the absence of state income tax and the effective advantage grows further.
The catch is housing, and it is a real one. Texas median rent grew 9.1 percent in inflation-adjusted terms across recent five-year Census periods, and more than half of the state’s 4.1 million renters are now cost burdened.
Median household income in Texas was $79,721 in 2024 against a US median of $81,604, per the Census Bureau Texas profile. Household income counts every earner in the home, so never compare it directly with a per-worker wage.
A $70,000 Texas salary costs an employer roughly $91,600 to $101,000 a year all in, once payroll taxes, benefits and an EOR fee are included. Statutory payroll taxes alone add about 8.1 percent on top of base salary.
Texas is one of the cheapest US states on the statutory side. The headline salary is a much larger share of total cost here than it is in France or Brazil.
Texas employers pay three payroll taxes: FICA at 7.65 percent, FUTA at an effective 0.6 percent, and Texas unemployment insurance to the Texas Workforce Commission. There is no state income tax withholding.
The $9,000 taxable wage base is set by statute and does not change annually, per the TWC taxable wages guidance. Rates are published each year on the TWC tax rates page.
The total cost of employment on a $70,000 Texas salary lands between $91,600 and $101,000, which is 1.31 to 1.44 times base salary. Statutory taxes account for only $5,640 of that.
| Cost component | Low estimate | High estimate | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $70,000 | $70,000 | Illustrative |
| Social Security (6.2%) | $4,340 | $4,340 | Under $184,500 cap |
| Medicare (1.45%) | $1,015 | $1,015 | Uncapped |
| FUTA (0.6% effective) | $42 | $42 | First $7,000 |
| Texas SUI (2.70% new employer) | $243 | $243 | First $9,000 |
| State income tax | $0 | $0 | None in Texas |
| Statutory subtotal | $5,640 | $5,640 | 8.1% of salary |
| Benefits (health, 401k, PTO, admin) | $10,000 | $17,000 | Market range |
| EOR platform fee | $5,988 | $8,388 | $499 to $699 per month |
| Total cost of employment | $91,628 | $101,028 | 1.31x to 1.44x salary |
For a full breakdown of how those fee layers are structured, see our global payroll services cost guide and our Employer of Record USA guide, which puts typical EOR total cost of employment at $800 to $1,400 per employee per month on top of salary.
No. Texas is the only US state where workers’ compensation coverage is optional for most private employers, which is genuinely unusual.
Optional does not mean free of consequence. Employers who opt out lose important legal defences in employee injury suits, and many customer contracts and commercial leases require coverage anyway.
Most EOR providers carry workers’ compensation as standard, which removes the decision from your plate.
You hire through an Employer of Record, which is a company that already holds a US entity and employs the worker on your behalf. Onboarding typically takes days, against three to six months to incorporate, register with the Texas Secretary of State and open TWC and IRS accounts yourself.
The EOR becomes the legal employer of record. You keep full day-to-day control of the work, the priorities and the performance conversation.
An Employer of Record is a third party that legally employs your worker, runs payroll and carries the compliance liability, while you direct the work. In Texas that specifically means the EOR registers with the Texas Workforce Commission, files quarterly wage reports and pays state unemployment insurance under its own account.
Our complete Employer of Record guide covers the model end to end, and the EOR payroll process guide walks through the invoice line by line.
EOR platform fees for a US hire typically run $499 to $699 per employee per month, with total cost of employment landing at $800 to $1,400 per month on top of salary once benefits are added. Health insurance is usually the largest single variable.
Ask every provider for an itemised total cost of employment quote naming the actual carrier and plan type. Generic assurances about competitive benefits are not a quote.
Provider pricing varies more than most buyers expect. Our Deel review and our best EOR for SaaS companies guide break down where each provider is genuinely strong.
The crossover usually sits between 10 and 25 employees in a single country. Below that, the EOR fee is cheaper than the fixed cost of running an entity, in-country payroll and legal support.
Texas shifts that maths in favour of staying on an EOR longer than most states, because the statutory burden is low and the compliance surface is small. Your unit economics improve more slowly than they would in a high-burden jurisdiction.
Ask about the exit process before you sign. Some providers transfer employees to your new entity smoothly and some charge for it. Our international PEO services guide covers the decision framework.
Peorient is a free, independent EOR and PEO matching service. Tell us the role, the Texas metro and the budget, and we shortlist providers that actually fit. We take no payment to rank any provider.
Start with our Employer of Record USA guide or speak with us to model your real cost per Texas hire.
A mid-level software engineer costs roughly six to nine times more in Texas than in India on base salary alone, before employer load. The Austin computer and mathematical group mean annualises to about $122,158, against roughly $14,000 to $21,000 for a comparable engineer in Pune.
That headline ratio is real, but it is also the number that misleads finance teams most often. Statutory load, attrition, management overhead and time zone friction all move the true delivered cost.
| Factor | Texas hire | India hire via EOR |
|---|---|---|
| Indicative base, mid-level engineer | $110,000 to $140,000 | INR 12 to 18 lakh (~$14,000 to $21,000) |
| Statutory employer load | ~8% of salary | ~13% to 16% (EPF, ESI, gratuity) |
| State or local income tax | None in Texas | Central income tax, employee side |
| Typical EOR fee | $499 to $699 per month | $99 to $400 per month |
| Time to first payroll | Days via EOR | Days via EOR |
| Time zone overlap with US Central | Full | 10.5 to 11.5 hours ahead |
The realistic conclusion is not “hire in India instead of Texas”. It is that most scaling teams end up with a deliberate split: senior and customer-facing roles in Texas, engineering depth and support capacity in India.
If you are modelling that split, our average salary in India by city guide maps pay by metro and role, and our India versus global income comparison puts the gap in purchasing power terms.
For the India execution side, see our 10 best Employer of Record providers in India and our India payroll software comparison.
Budget at or above $55,000 for any professional role, because 86.4 percent of Texas high-wage job growth through 2032 pays $55,000 or more. For a mid-level technical role in Austin or Dallas-Fort Worth, plan on $95,000 to $135,000 base.
Texas added more jobs than any other state in 2025, reaching a record 14.3 million nonfarm positions. Competition for skilled workers is the binding constraint, not candidate supply.
Plan on 1.5 to 2.5 times the $47,499 state median for a professional individual contributor role, and 3 times or more for management. Anything at or below the median will read as an entry-level offer to a Texas candidate.
Adjust for metro. An offer that is competitive in San Antonio is roughly 12 percent light in Austin on the same occupational mix.
The strongest non-salary levers in Texas are health plan quality, retirement match and remote flexibility, in that order. Health cover carries disproportionate weight because Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country at 16.7 percent.
An EOR handles all four of these as standard, which is often the fastest route to a competitive package when you have no US entity.
A good salary in Texas starts around $75,000 for a single earner and around $100,000 for a household, both comfortably above the $47,499 state median and the $79,721 median household income. In Austin, add roughly 10 to 15 percent to those figures.
Yes. A $70,000 salary is about 47 percent above the Texas median wage of $47,499, and with no state income tax it takes home more than $70,000 would in California or New York. It stretches further in San Antonio or El Paso than in Austin.
The average hourly wage in Texas is roughly $31.70, against a US average of $33.54 in May 2025. Austin leads Texas metros at $35.85 an hour and San Antonio trails at $29.39.
No, not on headline salary. California pays higher nominal wages, but Texas has no state income tax and prices around 3 percent below the national average, so real take-home pay is far closer than the headline gap suggests.
Statutory employer payroll taxes add about 8.1 percent on top of base salary in Texas: 7.65 percent FICA, an effective 0.6 percent FUTA and Texas unemployment insurance of 0.32 to 6.32 percent on the first $9,000. Benefits and any EOR fee sit on top of that.
Yes. A foreign company can employ someone in Texas through an Employer of Record, which holds the US entity, registers with the Texas Workforce Commission and takes on the employment liability. Onboarding usually takes days rather than the three to six months an entity setup requires.
The Texas minimum wage is $7.25 an hour in 2026, matching the federal minimum, with a tipped cash minimum of $2.13. No Texas city sets a higher general rate for private employers.
Management occupations pay the most in every large Texas metro, from $58.70 an hour in San Antonio to $71.09 in Austin. Legal, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering occupations follow, the last being especially strong in Houston at $52.59 an hour.
Every wage figure in this guide comes from a primary government release. Where Peorient has calculated a figure, it is labelled as such.
Written by
Lead India Employment and Payroll Specialist · 13+ years experience
Priya is Peorient's resident expert on hiring in India. Former senior HR Tax consultant at a Big 4 firm in Bengaluru and Head of Payroll Operations at a Pune-based EOR. Advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. Has run state-level registrations in 14 Indian states.
Versatile.club Review 2026: The $149 vs $99-$399 Problem
Versatile.club publishes 3 different prices at once. Our independent 2026 review covers India EOR pricing, compliance and the $99 alternative.
