Average salary in Houston in 2026, and what actually counts as good
A typical job in the Houston metro pays $49,410 a year, less than the US median, yet a one-bedroom takes only 40% of take-home pay. Here is what six senior jobs pay, what puts you in the top quarter and top 10%, and how Houston compares after tax and rent.
Michael Vavilov
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A typical job in the Houston metro pays $49,410 a year before tax. $79,260 puts you in the top quarter, and $128,040 in the top 10%.
Those figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, the latest release. They cover 3.29 million jobs across the metro, from downtown, the Galleria and the Texas Medical Center to The Woodlands, Sugar Land, Katy, Pasadena and Baytown. The national median for all jobs is $50,980, so the typical Houston job pays about 3% less than the typical American one. Houston sits below the national scale at every level we track, and among the 36 US metros with more than a million jobs it ranks 29th.
That sounds like bad news, and for some workers it is. For a typical salary, though, the paycheck goes further here than in most big cities. Texas takes no income tax, and an ordinary one-bedroom costs $1,323 a month, so a single person on the median keeps about $1,990 a month after rent. That is more than on a higher salary in Chicago, Los Angeles or San Diego. This guide starts with what specific jobs pay, then shows where any salary sits on the Houston scale, what rent leaves from it in different parts of the metro, and how Houston compares with the five other US cities we have covered.
What six senior jobs pay in Houston
We ran six realistic resumes through PayScope's market value model with the location set to Houston. Each belongs to a fictional professional with ten to twelve years of experience, at senior level. The roles follow what the metro is known for: oil and gas, refining and petrochemicals along the Ship Channel, energy trading, construction and the Texas Medical Center. Only one is a software job. PayScope reads the skills and experience in a resume and compares them with people and job openings in the area, so the ranges below describe what the market pays for that kind of profile in Houston right now.
| Role (senior level) | Bottom 25% | Median | Top 25% | Top 10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reservoir engineer, oil and gas | $175K | $200K | $230K | $265K |
| Process engineer, refining | $132K | $148K | $168K | $188K |
| Software engineer, energy data | $125K | $145K | $172K | $200K |
| Construction project manager | $125K | $142K | $165K | $185K |
| Market risk analyst, energy trading | $118K | $135K | $155K | $178K |
| Registered nurse, cardiovascular ICU | $92K | $104K | $118K | $132K |
Source: PayScope market value model, one resume per role, senior level, location Houston, TX, run on November 5, 2026. Figures in thousands, as the model displays them.
Energy sets the top. A senior reservoir engineer comes out at $200,000, the highest senior median we have seen in any city in this series. Petroleum engineers are 12.5 times as common in Houston as in the national workforce, and the BLS median for all of them, junior to senior, is $169,870. A refinery process engineer comes out at $148,000, and the construction project manager and the energy trading risk analyst land between $135,000 and $142,000.
Outside energy, Houston pays less than the coasts. The senior software engineer comes out at $145,000, against $175,000 for a senior resume in Los Angeles and $190,000 in Seattle. For how software pay rises from entry to lead level nationally, see our software engineer salary guide. The ICU nurse at $104,000 matches the senior ICU nurse we ran in Chicago almost exactly, and the BLS median for all registered nurses in the metro is $99,830. These are senior roles, which is why every median here is at least double the metro's typical $49,410. Earlier in a career, pay for the same jobs is much lower.
How pay is spread across the Houston area
The BLS surveys employers about what they pay and estimates the pay level at each point of the scale, from the lowest-paid tenth of jobs in the metro to the highest. Find your own salary in the table to see where you sit among everyone working here, whatever their job.
| Where you sit | Houston metro | United States | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom 10% | $27,380 | $31,200 | 9 in 10 jobs pay more |
| Bottom 25% | $35,640 | $37,590 | 3 in 4 jobs pay more |
| Median (typical) | $49,410 | $50,980 | Half pay more, half pay less |
| Top 25% (good) | $79,260 | $80,520 | You out-earn 3 in 4 jobs |
| Top 10% | $128,040 | $128,560 | You out-earn 9 in 10 jobs |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, all occupations, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro, 3,289,720 jobs. The average (mean) is $67,610, or $32.51 an hour, pulled up by the highest earners, which is why we use the median as "typical".
As a monthly figure, the typical salary is about $4,120 before tax, or $23.76 an hour. The gap with the national scale is widest at the bottom: the bottom-10% line is $3,820 below the US figure, while the top-10% line is almost the same. Part of the reason is that the floor is low. Texas uses the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and does not let cities set a higher one, so a full-time minimum-wage year is $15,080. In practice the market pays well above that: the metro's bottom-10% line works out to $13.16 an hour.
The largest occupation in the metro is fast food and counter workers, 105,810 jobs at a median of $27,570. Home health and personal care aides earn a median of $23,440, against $35,800 nationally and $34,320 in Los Angeles. At the other end, energy and construction lift the upper half: architecture and engineering jobs are 1.4 times as common here as nationally, and construction managers twice as common.
The BLS counts jobs by where they are, not where people live, and covers employees only. It also converts hourly pay to a full-time year of 2,080 hours. If you count only people who worked full time all year and live in the metro, the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2024 puts the median at $60,543, slightly below the national figure of $61,583, and 25.4% of them earned $100,000 or more, about the national share.
Is Houston expensive to live in on a typical salary?
For rent we use HUD's Fair Market Rents for 2026 for the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, which covers Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties and most of the rest of the metro: $1,323 a month for a one-bedroom and $1,573 for a two-bedroom, utilities included. Both rose about 3% from 2025. HUD sets these at the 40th percentile of what recent movers pay, so they describe an ordinary apartment, not a new building in Montrose or the Galleria.
| Salary | Where it sits | Take-home per month | One-bedroom ($1,323) as share of take-home | Left after rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $35,640 | Bottom 25% | $2,437 | 54% | $1,114 |
| $40,000 | Below median | $2,713 | 49% | $1,390 |
| $49,410 | Median | $3,309 | 40% | $1,986 |
| $60,000 | Above median | $3,979 | 33% | $2,656 |
| $70,000 | Above median | $4,612 | 29% | $3,289 |
| $79,260 | Top 25% | $5,125 | 26% | $3,802 |
| $128,040 | Top 10% | $7,826 | 17% | $6,503 |
Source: PayScope calculation with 2026 IRS brackets, FICA and a 5% 401(k); Texas has no state income tax and no state payroll levy on wages. Rent from HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rents, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area. Health insurance not included.
On the typical $49,410, a single person takes home about $3,310 a month. A one-bedroom takes 40% of that and leaves about $1,990 for everything else. Rent falls to the usual 30% guideline at about $67,000, a salary between the median and the top-quarter line. In none of the five other cities we have covered does living alone get comfortable at a lower salary.
Sharing changes the numbers quickly. Half of a two-bedroom costs about $790, which is 24% of take-home on the typical salary and reaches 30% at about $38,600, close to the bottom-quarter line. A couple who both earn the metro median and file jointly take home about $6,620 a month, and a two-bedroom takes 24% of that. In Brazoria County, which includes Pearland and Alvin, HUD's one-bedroom is $1,240.
The numbers do leave some costs out. Houston is built around the car, and the model does not count a car payment, fuel or insurance, or the higher home and renters insurance premiums of the Gulf Coast. HUD's own income limits give another reference point: a single person in the Houston area counts as "low income" up to $58,250, about $8,800 above the typical salary. In Los Angeles County the same line sits right on the local top-quarter wage.
Where in the Houston area is rent cheapest?
The metro figure hides a wide range. HUD also publishes one-bedroom rents for each ZIP code in the Houston area. Across 327 ZIP codes they run from about $800 to a cap of $1,980, and half of them fall between $1,170 and $1,420.
| Area (ZIP) | One-bedroom per month |
|---|---|
| Montrose (77006), River Oaks (77019), Galleria (77056), West University (77005) | $1,980 |
| Sugar Land (77479), Cinco Ranch (77494) | $1,980 |
| The Woodlands (77382) | $1,900 |
| Memorial (77024) | $1,800 |
| Texas Medical Center (77030) | $1,620 |
| Energy Corridor (77077) | $1,610 |
| The Heights (77008) | $1,570 |
| Clear Lake (77058) | $1,350 |
| Third Ward (77004) | $1,330 |
| Alief (77099) | $1,260 |
| Sharpstown (77036) | $1,160 |
| Pasadena (77502) | $1,150 |
| Baytown (77520) | $1,120 |
| East End (77011) | $930 |
| Fifth Ward (77026) | $880 |
Source: HUD FY2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, one-bedroom.
The cap of $1,980 applies inside the Loop in Montrose, River Oaks, West University and the Galleria, and also in the newer suburbs of Sugar Land, Cinco Ranch and Missouri City. Living alone at 30% of take-home in those ZIP codes takes about $106,000. The Heights, the Medical Center and the Energy Corridor sit around $1,570 to $1,620. The cheapest areas are the East End and Fifth Ward at around $900, with Pasadena, Baytown, Sharpstown and Alief between about $1,060 and $1,260.
Houston vs Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego after tax and rent
Put the six metros side by side and Houston's position changes depending on which column you read.
| Metro | Typical salary | Take-home per month | One-bedroom rent | Rent as share of take-home | Left after rent | Salary that brings rent to 30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $72,610 | $4,673 | $2,146 | 46% | $2,527 | ~$118,000 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | $59,320 | $3,722 | $1,405 | 38% | $2,317 | ~$77,000 |
| Houston | $49,410 | $3,309 | $1,323 | 40% | $1,986 | ~$67,000 |
| Chicago | $54,720 | $3,443 | $1,581 | 46% | $1,862 | ~$88,000 |
| San Diego | $58,690 | $3,717 | $2,459 | 66% | $1,258 | ~$152,500 |
| Los Angeles (LA County rent) | $55,850 | $3,554 | $2,328 | 66% | $1,226 | ~$142,500 |
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 medians; PayScope take-home calculation for a single filer with a 5% 401(k) and each state's taxes and payroll levies; HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rents for each metro's core area.
Houston has the lowest typical salary and the lowest take-home of the six. After rent it moves to third: the typical Houston worker keeps about $1,990 a month, around $120 more than in Chicago and $730 to $760 more than in San Diego or Los Angeles, where the typical salary is $6,400 to $9,300 a year higher. Only Seattle and Minneapolis leave more.
The salary that brings a one-bedroom down to 30% of take-home is about $67,000 in Houston, the lowest of the six, against $77,000 in Minneapolis, $88,000 in Chicago, $118,000 in Seattle, $142,500 in Los Angeles County and $152,500 in San Diego.
What no state income tax is worth on a Houston salary
Texas has no personal income tax and, unlike Washington, no state payroll levies on wages. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare are the only deductions, and the city and county take nothing from a paycheck. The state collects instead through sales tax, which can reach 8.25% in Houston, and property taxes, which owners pass on in rent and which the HUD figures already include.
| Gross salary | Houston | Seattle | Los Angeles | Chicago | Minneapolis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $35,640 (Houston bottom 25%) | $2,437 | $2,396 | $2,371 | $2,310 | $2,342 |
| $49,410 (Houston median) | $3,309 | $3,252 | $3,184 | $3,127 | $3,150 |
| $79,260 (Houston top 25%) | $5,125 | $5,033 | $4,806 | $4,826 | $4,796 |
| $128,040 (Houston top 10%) | $7,826 | $7,678 | $7,098 | $7,336 | $7,217 |
| $200,000 | $11,777 | $11,557 | $10,442 | $11,006 | $10,703 |
Source: PayScope calculation for a single filer with 2026 IRS brackets, FICA and a 5% 401(k); California 2025 FTB schedules and SDI 1.3%; Illinois 4.95%; 2026 Minnesota brackets and Paid Leave 0.44%; Washington PFML and WA Cares. Health insurance not included.
On the typical $49,410, a Houston worker keeps about $125 a month more than someone on the same salary in Los Angeles and about $180 more than in Chicago. The gap grows with pay. On the top-10% salary of $128,040, the difference against California is about $730 a month. For more on what having no income tax is worth and what it is not, our Seattle guide works through the Washington case.
Jobs that pay a good salary in Houston
If "good" means the top quarter of all jobs, these are the large occupations whose typical pay in the Houston metro is above the $79,260 line. The figures are BLS medians across all experience levels, so a senior person in these jobs usually earns more.
| Occupation | Jobs in the metro | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| General and operations managers | 97,320 | $119,600 |
| Registered nurses | 65,910 | $99,830 |
| Project management specialists | 35,550 | $99,510 |
| Accountants and auditors | 28,400 | $85,090 |
| Software developers | 22,940 | $129,440 |
| Financial managers | 18,570 | $166,910 |
| Lawyers | 16,810 | $157,980 |
| Construction managers | 16,500 | $103,530 |
| Sales managers | 16,430 | $135,880 |
| Medical and health services managers | 12,410 | $124,400 |
| Civil engineers | 12,140 | $100,950 |
| Chemical equipment operators and tenders | 9,390 | $79,430 |
| Mechanical engineers | 8,310 | $125,350 |
| Transportation, storage and distribution managers | 7,840 | $105,420 |
| Pharmacists | 6,410 | $140,470 |
| Electrical engineers | 5,770 | $131,070 |
| Refinery operators and petroleum pump system operators | 5,510 | $84,100 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro, occupations with at least 5,000 jobs (selection).
Energy shows up in two ways. Petroleum engineers, with 4,770 jobs, have a median of $169,870, and the top 10% earn more than $288,000. Plant work also clears the line without a degree: refinery operators earn a median of $84,100, chemical plant operators $106,020 and chemical equipment operators $79,430, right at the top-quarter mark. Construction managers are twice as common here as nationally, with a median of $103,530.
Public-sector jobs fall well short of it. Police and sheriff's patrol officers in the Houston metro have a median of $74,570, against $121,980 in Los Angeles and $107,810 in Chicago, and elementary school teachers $64,500. Electricians earn $59,180 and plumbers $61,300, below their national medians.
Houston, Sugar Land, The Woodlands and the rest of the metro
The BLS publishes one set of figures for the whole metro, but the Census Bureau's survey of residents can be split by county and city. Among people who worked full time all year in 2024, here is the median by where they live.
| City or county | Median | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|
| The Woodlands | $108,659 | ±$20,958 |
| Sugar Land | $90,677 | ±$6,125 |
| League City | $80,403 | ±$5,334 |
| Pearland | $80,354 | ±$6,048 |
| Fort Bend County | $70,923 | ±$2,087 |
| Montgomery County | $65,539 | ±$2,057 |
| Metro as a whole | $60,543 | ±$428 |
| Harris County | $56,048 | ±$1,025 |
| Conroe | $52,809 | ±$3,357 |
| Houston (city) | $52,207 | ±$744 |
| Baytown | $49,573 | ±$3,828 |
| Pasadena | $40,733 | ±$3,055 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table S2001, in 2024 dollars. The Woodlands figure has a wide margin of error. Smaller places such as Katy, Bellaire, West University Place and Galveston are not included.
In Houston the money sits in the suburbs. The city of Houston's full-time median is $52,207, below Harris County as a whole and well below the metro. Fort Bend County, home to Sugar Land, is about $15,000 a year higher than Harris County, and Sugar Land, League City, Pearland and The Woodlands all sit above $80,000. Pasadena, on the Ship Channel, is at the bottom with $40,733. These figures describe who lives in each place, not what employers there pay, since many people commute to downtown, the Galleria, the Energy Corridor and the Medical Center.
Average salary in Texas
For the whole state the median job pays $48,620, the top quarter starts at $77,840 and the top 10% at $125,220, across 14.1 million jobs in the BLS survey. Houston is a little above the state at every level. Among the other large Texas metros, the median is $56,950 in Austin, $51,440 in Dallas-Fort Worth and $47,010 in San Antonio.
Among people who worked full time all year, the Census Bureau puts the Texas median at $58,229 for 2024, and 22.8% of them earned $100,000 or more, a little below the national share of 24.9%.
Why your number may differ from the average
The metro median tells you where the middle of the whole job market sits. It says very little about what you should be paid.
Your role and level set the range, and in Houston they put every senior profile we tested at $104,000 or more at the median, and the reservoir engineer at $200,000. Your specific skills then decide whether you sit in the bottom or top quarter of your own role, which for the senior software engineer is the difference between $125,000 and $172,000. In a city where a one-bedroom costs about $1,300, that gap is more than two years of rent.
The useful comparison is with people doing your job, at your level, in this metro. Upload your resume to PayScope and you get that comparison: a Houston range for your profile and where your current pay sits inside it.
FAQ
What is a good salary in Houston?
On the job scale, $79,260 puts you in the top quarter of jobs in the Houston metro and $128,040 in the top 10% (BLS, May 2025). For a single person renting a one-bedroom alone, rent falls to 30% of take-home at about $67,000, so a salary between the median and the top-quarter line already covers it. With a roommate, about $38,600 keeps your half of a two-bedroom at 30%.
Is $70,000 a good salary in Houston?
Yes. $70,000 is well above the metro median of $49,410 and out-earns roughly two in three jobs. A single filer takes home about $4,610 a month after federal tax, FICA and a 5% 401(k), and a typical one-bedroom at $1,323 takes about 29% of that. In the priciest ZIP codes, such as Montrose or the Galleria at $1,980, it takes 43%.
Is $100,000 a good salary in Houston?
Yes. $100,000 is above the top-quarter line of $79,260 and about double the metro median. A single filer takes home about $6,270 a month, and a typical one-bedroom takes 21% of it, so living alone is comfortable almost anywhere in the metro.
What percent of Texans make over $100k?
Among Texans who worked full time all year in 2024, 22.8% earned $100,000 or more, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. In the Houston metro the share is 25.4%, and nationally it is 24.9%. Counting part-time workers too would make all three shares lower.
What percentage of Americans make over $75,000?
About 39% of Americans who worked full time all year earned $75,000 or more in 2024 (American Community Survey, table S2001). About 25% earned $100,000 or more.
Does Texas have a state income tax?
No. Texas has no personal income tax and no state payroll levies on wages, and Houston and Harris County take nothing from a paycheck either. On the typical $49,410 salary, a single filer in Houston keeps about $125 a month more than on the same salary in Los Angeles. Texas collects more through sales tax, up to 8.25% in Houston, and property taxes, which show up in rents.
What is the minimum wage in Houston in 2026?
$7.25 an hour, the federal minimum, which Texas uses as its state minimum. Texas does not allow cities to set a higher one, so it applies in Houston too. A full-time year at $7.25 comes to $15,080. In practice 9 in 10 jobs in the metro pay at least $13.16 an hour.
What is the average salary in Houston per month and per hour?
The typical (median) job in the Houston metro pays $49,410 a year, which is about $4,120 a month or $23.76 an hour before tax. After federal tax, FICA and a 5% 401(k), a single filer takes home about $3,310 a month. The mean is higher, $67,610 a year or $32.51 an hour, because high earners pull it up.
What income puts you in the top 10% in Houston?
$128,040 a year, about $61.56 an hour, puts a job in the top 10% of the Houston metro (BLS, May 2025). That is almost exactly the national top-10% line of $128,560. After tax it is about $7,830 a month for a single filer, and a typical one-bedroom takes 17% of it.
