Highest Paying Jobs in Texas

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$410,150

Cardiologists

Top 25 Average

$250,349

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Texas by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Cardiologists pays a state median of $410,150, 17% below the national median of $496,010 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Texas - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $317,316, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 49 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Texas, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Texas is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Texas, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

# Occupation State Median
1 Cardiologists $410,150
2 Neurologists $360,640
3 Physicians, Pathologists $345,830
4 Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric $323,010
5 Radiologists $319,320
6 Emergency Medicine Physicians $316,830
7 Dentists, All Other Specialists $286,510
8 Obstetricians and Gynecologists $271,960
9 Physicians, All Other $269,800
10 General Internal Medicine Physicians $269,110
11 Chief Executives $257,850
12 Nurse Anesthetists $244,990
13 Family Medicine Physicians $235,710
14 Psychiatrists $228,460
15 Surgeons, All Other $222,820
16 Dermatologists $218,670
17 Anesthesiologists $215,230
18 Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers $215,150
19 Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric $200,780
20 Physicists $184,040
21 Podiatrists $175,520
22 Pediatricians, General $173,360
23 Computer and Information Systems Managers $171,530
24 Architectural and Engineering Managers $171,370
25 Air Traffic Controllers $170,080
26 Financial Managers $164,860
27 Petroleum Engineers $164,860
28 Computer Hardware Engineers $163,860
29 Dentists, General $162,360
30 Lawyers $154,200
31 Marine Engineers and Naval Architects $152,780
32 Database Architects $151,370
33 Marketing Managers $147,880
34 Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers $145,220
35 Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates $139,990
36 Industrial-Organizational Psychologists $139,520
37 Pharmacists $138,260
38 Law Teachers, Postsecondary $138,160
39 Commercial Pilots $137,960
40 Compensation and Benefits Managers $136,930
41 Human Resources Managers $136,500
42 Sales Managers $136,020
43 Medical Dosimetrists $134,680
44 Purchasing Managers $134,670
45 Physician Assistants $134,550
46 Managers, All Other $134,390
47 Computer Network Architects $133,310
48 Animal Scientists $132,830
49 Chemical Engineers $132,750
50 Electronics Engineers, Except Computer $132,220
51 Software Developers $132,150
52 Nurse Practitioners $131,670
53 Veterinarians $131,330
54 Industrial Production Managers $130,890
55 Sales Engineers $130,610
56 Aerospace Engineers $130,270
57 Natural Sciences Managers $129,960
58 Information Security Analysts $129,890
59 Electrical Engineers $129,450
60 Nuclear Engineers $128,340
61 Ship Engineers $127,810
62 Public Relations Managers $126,670
63 Optometrists $126,000
64 Training and Development Managers $124,280
65 Nuclear Technicians $124,060
66 Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors $123,440
67 Nurse Midwives $123,380
68 Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary $123,280
69 Environmental Engineers $123,060
70 Data Scientists $122,090
71 Economists $121,420
72 Computer and Information Research Scientists $121,210
73 Economics Teachers, Postsecondary $118,530
74 Materials Engineers $117,700
75 Engineers, All Other $115,810
76 Database Administrators $114,400
77 Administrative Services Managers $114,190
78 Medical and Health Services Managers $114,150
79 Political Scientists $114,050
80 Mechanical Engineers $112,410
81 Computer Occupations, All Other $111,530
82 Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels $111,390
83 First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives $111,000
84 Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners $110,080
85 Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary $108,150
86 Computer Systems Analysts $107,390
87 Gambling Managers $106,670
88 Occupational Therapists $106,140
89 Physical Therapists $105,810
90 Radiation Therapists $105,770
91 Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary $105,370
92 Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other $105,370
93 Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary $105,080
94 Actuaries $105,020
95 Industrial Engineers $104,560
96 Education Administrators, Postsecondary $104,390
97 Advertising and Promotions Managers $104,170
98 Financial Risk Specialists $103,760
99 General and Operations Managers $103,230
100 Statisticians $102,960

Nearby & Related Pages

More ways to explore Texas pay and compare with national data.

Texas Overview

Full state salary data

Fastest Growing in Texas

Top 50 by growth rate

National Rankings

Highest paying jobs nationwide

Cardiologists

National profile & state breakdown

All 50 States

Compare across states
Compare Cardiologists side-by-side with another occupation →

About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Texas. The "Difference" column shows how Texas pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Last updated: May 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Rankings by median annual salary in Texas.

National benchmark comparisons computed against BLS OEWS National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2025.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.