Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX moved from $49,740 in May 2024 to $51,440 in May 2025 (+3.4%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sits +0.3 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic publishes $80,110 here versus $47,180 nationally (+69.8%; 5,440metro-area jobs). Next is Chief Executives at $320,060 locally versus $213,990 nationally (+49.6%).
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic$80,110 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sits 69.8% above the national Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic median of $47,180 (5,440 published local jobs).
- Chief Executives$320,060 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sits 49.6% above the national Chief Executives median of $213,990 (2,580 published local jobs).
- Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers$21,050 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sits 38.1% below the national Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers median of $33,980 (18,600 published local jobs).
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers$86,520 in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX sits 32.3% above the national Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers median of $65,380 (2,450 published local jobs).
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 19100 · Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX $70K mean
MEAN-MEGA · RPP-MID · OCC-FULL · TOP-LEAD · EMP-HEAVY · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MEGA #44/528
- RPP-MID 103.1
- OCC-FULL 712 occs
- TOP-LEAD Orthopedic Sur… · $667K
- EMP-HEAVY Computer and…
- TREND-INLINE +0.3 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Mount Vernon-Ana…
- BOOK-FULL 686 rows · May 2025
Read with Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA ($1 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington
Employment scale inside Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX's top-pay list
Computer and Information Systems Managers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Computer and Information Systems Managers 30,690 jobs · $173,810
- 2. Financial Managers 26,600 jobs · $169,200
- 3. Physicians, All Other 13,580 jobs · $222,410
- 4. Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers 5,980 jobs · $212,810
- 5. Architectural and Engineering Managers 5,970 jobs · $172,160
- 6. Dentists, General 2,890 jobs · $179,990
- 7. Chief Executives 2,580 jobs · $320,060
- 8. Family Medicine Physicians 2,240 jobs · $259,310
- 9. General Internal Medicine Physicians 1,350 jobs · $276,520
- 10. Nurse Anesthetists 1,290 jobs · $218,650
- 11. Anesthesiologists 950 jobs · $218,060
- 12. Cardiologists 940 jobs · $403,340
- 13. Air Traffic Controllers 800 jobs · $186,510
- 14. Obstetricians and Gynecologists 770 jobs · $321,260
- 15. Physicians, Pathologists 480 jobs · $316,150
- 16. Surgeons, All Other 470 jobs · $494,800
- 17. Psychiatrists 410 jobs · $240,930
- 18. Pediatricians, General 340 jobs · $242,160
Occupations Tracked
712
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$70,367
employment-weighted, 686 complete rows
Top Salary
$666,930
Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
Cost of Living
103.1
3% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $666,930 |
| 2 | Surgeons, All Other | $494,800 |
| 3 | Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons | $431,910 |
| 4 | Cardiologists | $403,340 |
| 5 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $402,600 |
| 6 | Neurologists | $360,640 |
| 7 | Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric | $359,980 |
| 8 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $324,210 |
| 9 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $321,260 |
| 10 | Chief Executives | $320,060 |
| 11 | Physicians, Pathologists | $316,150 |
| 12 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $276,520 |
| 13 | Family Medicine Physicians | $259,310 |
| 14 | Pediatricians, General | $242,160 |
| 15 | Psychiatrists | $240,930 |
| 16 | Dermatologists | $232,910 |
| 17 | Physicians, All Other | $222,410 |
| 18 | Nurse Anesthetists | $218,650 |
| 19 | Anesthesiologists | $218,060 |
| 20 | Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers | $212,810 |
| 21 | Air Traffic Controllers | $186,510 |
| 22 | Dentists, General | $179,990 |
| 23 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $173,810 |
| 24 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $172,160 |
| 25 | Financial Managers | $169,200 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $21,050 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $24,160 |
| Bartenders | $24,170 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $25,320 |
| Entertainment Attendants and Related Workers, All Other | $25,980 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $26,900 |
| Costume Attendants | $27,090 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $27,230 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $28,070 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $28,080 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in TX
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside TX. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($70,367 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX? ▼
Which published medians lead Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington? ▼
What is the cost of living in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX wage figures in a real decision
- Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric leads published medians in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX at $666,930/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $70,367 adjusts to about $68,258 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 103.1. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for TX before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.