Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Skilled Trade Salaries in Texas
Skilled-trade workers in Texas earn an average median wage of $57,903 across 47 trades and 3 BLS-tracked metros, based on 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The top-paying trade in the state is Elevator Mechanic at $104,470.
See full Texas trade rankings →How Texas Compares Nationally
Texas runs 11% below the U.S. trade-wage average, with metros there averaging $57,903 across the tracked trades. Lower nominal pay frequently translates into stronger purchasing power once cost of living is factored in — affordable housing and lower service-sector costs mean a journeyman wage often goes further here than the headline number suggests.
The highest-paying trade in Texas is Elevator Mechanic at a median $104,470, followed by Construction Manager at $99,873. The gap between the top two trades — $4,597 — is a useful gauge of how concentrated the state's high-pay opportunities are. A wide gap means a single specialized trade dominates the top of the market; a narrow gap signals broad-based wage strength across multiple skilled occupations.
Texas has 3 metropolitan statistical areas tracked in BLS OEWS data. Pay can vary meaningfully across them — coastal or capital-region metros usually run higher than secondary cities — so it is worth comparing the city-level pages rather than relying on the state aggregate alone.
Texas Metro Areas
Trade Salaries in Texas
How These Numbers Are Calculated
Every wage figure on this page comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, published annually at bls.gov/oes. State-level figures aggregate the metropolitan readings across Texas's 3 tracked metros, weighted equally per metro to avoid over-counting any single labor market. The Trade Pay Score combines raw median pay (30%), 5-year wage growth (25%), employment depth (25%), and cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power (20%); for the full composite see the methodology page.
Career outlook detail — projected employment growth, typical entry-level requirements, on-the-job training expectations — comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship program listings for Texas are maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor at apprenticeship.gov. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average skilled-trade wage in Texas?
Across 47 skilled trades and 3 BLS-tracked metros, Texas posts an average median wage of $57,903 per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data. Pay varies substantially by trade — from $42,233 (Floor Layer) at the low end to $104,470 (Elevator Mechanic) at the top.
Which trade pays the most in Texas?
Elevator Mechanic is the highest-paying trade in Texas, with a state-wide median wage of $104,470 across 1 tracked metro. The next-best is Construction Manager at $99,873. Both reflect demand patterns specific to the state's economy — see the per-trade pages for city-level detail.
Are union or non-union trades better paid in Texas?
BLS OEWS does not split wages by union status, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes separate union-membership and earnings data at https://www.bls.gov/cps/. In broad terms, union trades pay 8-39% more than non-union counterparts in the same trade and metro, with the largest premiums in electrical, mechanical, and ironwork. State-level union density varies — northeastern and Pacific states typically run highest.
Where can I find apprenticeships in Texas?
Registered apprenticeship programs in Texas are listed on the U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship.gov site at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/, which lets you filter by state and occupation. Most skilled trades require 3-5 years of registered apprenticeship before reaching journeyman pay; the apprenticeship pages on TradeWages list year-by-year pay progression as a percentage of journeyman scale.
How does the cost of living affect trade pay in Texas?
Cost of living shifts substantially across Texas's metros — the difference between the cheapest and most expensive tracked metro can be 20% or more. The Trade Pay Score on each city page weights cost-of-living-adjusted purchasing power at 20% of the composite, so a trade with strong nominal pay in an expensive metro can still earn a lower grade than a more affordable metro with mid-range nominal wages.
Skilled-trade workers in Texas earn an average median wage of $57,903 across 47 trades and 3 BLS-tracked metros, based on 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The top-paying trade in the state is Elevator Mechanic at $104,470.
The this entity record above pulls directly from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. skilled-trade wage data distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
Every number on this page links back to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
For readers using this page as a decision input, the related-entity pages elsewhere on the site provide the comparison set. The most useful comparison for this entity is typically a peer within U.S. trades, cities, and states with similar size, similar exposure, or similar geography — not the national-level summary alone.