Texas' Labor Market Is Booming. Here Are The 26 Highest-paying Jobs In The Lone Star State.
Houston, Texas.
Art Wager/Getty Images
- Texas is seeing a strong labor market, with record-high employment figures.
- Business Insider looked at Bureau of Labor Statistics data to check out how pay looks in Texas.
- Texas' best-paying jobs are athletes and sports competitors, but around two dozen jobs pay over $175,000 on average.
Texas has a booming labor market.
March data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the state has a record-high number of people in the labor force and a record-high number of jobs.
Starting in June 2023, the unemployment rate in Texas has consistently been 3.9%, and the rate has been close to or at the national unemployment rate during 2024 so far. Plus, the state added over 80,000 jobs in the first three months of the year.
Amid a robust job market and with around 15.2 million people in the Texas labor force, Business Insider decided to look at what pay opportunities look like in the state based on recently published data.
Around two dozen jobs in Texas pay an average of over $175,000, including architectural and engineering managers, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, and athletes and other sports competitors.
That's based on average annual wage data from the May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BI focused on jobs that had data available for Texas from that release. While pediatric surgeon is a high-paying job in the state, we didn't include it in our ranking below because it didn't have a specific estimate stated.
Below are the highest-paying jobs in Texas along with their average annual wages and employment estimates in the state.
Nastasic/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $176,430
Employment estimate: 25,650
Maskot/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $177,890
Employment estimate: 45,950
Maravic/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $180,660
Employment estimate: 6,360
South_agency/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $185,320
Employment estimate: 18,540
pedro arquero/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $201,210
Employment estimate: 260
Fiordaliso/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $205,270
Employment estimate: 1,040
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $214,720
Employment estimate: 5,920
SDI Productions/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $216,280
Employment estimate: 5,390
SeventyFour/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $220,000
Employment estimate: 10,910
Halfpoint/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $224,640
Employment estimate: 2,690
Drazen Zigic/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $225,220
Employment estimate: 2,530
DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images
Average annual wage: $227,380
Employment estimate: 7,800
Solskin/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $239,840
Employment estimate: 28,660
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $257,220
Employment estimate: 1,370
Dennis Degnan/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $257,890
Employment estimate: Not available
Tashi-Delek/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $275,700
Employment estimate: 640
Kosamtu/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $276,120
Employment estimate: 730
Morsa Images/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $276,680
Employment estimate: 1,680
Nitat Termmee/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $278,140
Employment estimate: 890
Adalberto Rodriguez/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $287,240
Employment estimate: Not available
Anchiy/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $287,330
Employment estimate: 910
Weiquan Lin/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $291,320
Employment estimate: 1,260
Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $298,140
Employment estimate: 6,970
Thomas Barwick/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $323,310
Employment estimate: 1,150
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $327,850
Employment estimate: 1,830
Ryan Kang/Getty Images
Average annual wage: $368,110
Employment estimate: 2,760
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