Texas Labor
Intelligence

Texas pay · SOC 35-2014

Cooks, Restaurant

May 2025 estimates for Texas and its published labor markets.

Statewide pay

BLS May 2025, Texas. Published annual and hourly estimates.
MeasureAnnual payHourly pay
10th percentile$23,330$11.21
25th percentile$28,540$13.72
Median$34,760$16.71
75th percentile$37,030$17.80
90th percentile$42,810$20.58
Average$33,370$16.04

A plus sign marks a lower bound. “Not released” means BLS withheld the estimate; “Not available” means no estimate was provided. Hourly figures come from BLS, without dividing annual pay by assumed work hours.

Estimated employment: 126,620. This covers jobs in the published area, not residents of one county.

The middle half of annual wages runs from $28,540 to $37,030 in 2025, a span of $8,490. Percentiles describe the wage distribution across jobs. They do not identify experience levels or promise an offer.

Compare labor markets

Across 31 distinct areas with comparable 2025 estimates, medians range from $28,120 in Laredo, TX to $36,810 in Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX.

Each published area appears once. Employment totals across counties must not be added together.
Published areaMedian annual payEstimated jobs
Abilene, TX$30,180730
Amarillo, TX$30,5601,300
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX$36,81013,000
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX$30,5201,480
Border Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$29,180300
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX$28,6701,510
Coastal Plains Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$28,680980
College Station-Bryan, TX$32,6301,410
Corpus Christi, TX$30,6702,130
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$36,49034,430
Eastern Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$29,950930
El Paso, TX$28,9903,550
Hill Country Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$29,4702,130
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$35,05032,710
Killeen-Temple, TX$30,5101,340
Laredo, TX$28,1201,060
Longview, TX$29,930920
Lubbock, TX$30,2501,700
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX$28,3802,590
Midland, TX$35,670900
North Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$28,8802,400
Northwestern Region of Texas nonmetropolitan area$29,1601,300
Odessa, TX$34,900840
San Angelo, TX$29,800510
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX$34,86010,860
Sherman-Denison, TX$31,760510
Texarkana, TX-AR$29,490640
Tyler, TX$30,3001,050
Victoria, TX$29,680340
Waco, TX$31,5001,140
Wichita Falls, TX$29,790520

Find the estimate for your county

Use this with an offer

Check the job's duties, paid hours, benefits and location. The same title can cover different responsibilities. These estimates exclude self-employed workers and reflect May 2025, so a current offer may differ.

Read the offer comparison guide · Try a savings scenario · Sources and methods