Updated May 2026 · BLS OEWS 2024
Industrial Machinery Mechanic Salary in Houston
2024 BLS OEWS Data · Industrial · COL Index: 96
Industrial Machinery Mechanics in Houston, TX earn a median annual wage of $63,180 per 2024 BLS OEWS data, with the 10th percentile at $44,440 and the 90th at $102,720. After cost of living, that translates to $65,813 in U.S.-average purchasing power. Trade Pay Score: B (75/100).
What Industrial Machinery Mechanics Take Home in Houston
The $58,280 spread between entry-level and top-decile industrial machinery mechanics in Houston is around 92% of the median — a typical range for skilled trades. Workers can roughly double their entry pay through a combination of experience, certifications, union membership, and moving from helper to journeyman to foreman roles.
Houston's cost-of-living index of 96 is within a few points of the U.S. average, so the $63,180 median for industrial machinery mechanics here translates almost directly into real purchasing power — roughly $65,813 in U.S.-average terms. What you see is what you take home, with no significant adjustment up or down.
With a Trade Pay Score of 75 (B), industrial machinery mechanics in Houston land in the strong second tier. Pay, growth, and purchasing power are all solid but one factor — usually wage growth or cost-of-living-adjusted real pay — keeps the score below the A threshold. For most workers, B-graded combinations are perfectly reasonable career choices.
Salary Distribution
Percentile Breakdown
| Level | Salary | COL-Adjusted |
|---|---|---|
| 10th Percentile (Apprentice / Entry) | $44,440 | $46,292 |
| 25th Percentile (Early Career) | $51,310 | $53,448 |
| 50th Percentile (Journeyman / Median) | $63,180 | $65,813 |
| 75th Percentile (Experienced) | $79,980 | $83,313 |
| 90th Percentile (Master / Foreman) | $102,720 | $107,000 |
How These Numbers Are Calculated
Every wage figure here comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program at bls.gov/oes — a survey of about 1.2 million employers per release covering more than 800 occupations and every U.S. metropolitan statistical area. 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%) into a single 0-100 grade. Read the full methodology.
Career outlook detail — projected 2032 employment levels for industrial machinery mechanics, typical entry-level requirements, on-the-job training expectations — comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at bls.gov/ooh. Apprenticeship programs in Houston are listed at apprenticeship.gov. All three are public-domain federal data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a Industrial Machinery Mechanic make in Houston?
Per 2024 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, the median industrial machinery mechanic salary in Houston, TX is $63,180. The 10th percentile is $44,440 (typical for entry-level or apprentice-tier positions); the 90th percentile reaches $102,720 (master, foreman, or specialty roles).
How does Houston pay compare for Industrial Machinery Mechanics?
With a Trade Pay Score of 75/100 and a grade of B, the Houston-Industrial Machinery Mechanic pairing is a strong combination but with one factor (usually growth or cost-of-living-adjusted real pay) holding it back from an A grade.
What is the apprenticeship path for Industrial Machinery Mechanics in Houston?
Industrial Machinery Mechanics typically complete a 4-year registered apprenticeship before reaching journeyman pay, starting around the 10th percentile ($44,440) and progressing toward the median. Registered apprenticeship programs in the area are listed at https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
How does cost of living affect Industrial Machinery Mechanic pay in Houston?
Houston has a cost-of-living index of 96. The median industrial machinery mechanic salary of $63,180 translates to $65,813 in U.S.-average purchasing power — an upward adjustment because the metro is less expensive than average.
Where does this salary data come from?
Every wage figure on this page is a real BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median or percentile from the 2024 release at https://www.bls.gov/oes/, which surveys roughly 1.2 million U.S. employers per release. Career outlook context (projected employment growth through 2032) comes from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/. Both are public-domain U.S. government data sources.
Industrial Machinery Mechanics in Houston, TX earn a median annual wage of $63,180 per 2024 BLS OEWS data, with the 10th percentile at $44,440 and the 90th at $102,720. After cost of living, that translates to $65,813 in U.S.-average purchasing power. Trade Pay Score: B (75/100).
this entity is one of the data points covered by this site’s U.S. skilled-trade wage data dataset. The detail above comes directly from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey; the context that follows situates the headline numbers against the broader distribution across U.S. trades, cities, and states.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. trades, cities, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.