Computer Programmers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,709
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$20,621
20.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,997
Texas costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Texas — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$99,330
Kept after tax
$78,709
Worth in national money
$80,997
State rank
18
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Texas pays computer programmers around $99,330 at the midpoint, 18 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Texas this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, computer programmers ranks 70 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $99,330, tax leaves $78,709, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $80,997 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $100,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- For computer programmers the Texas median is $99,330, ranking 18 of 46 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Texas publishes a median for, computer programmers sits 70 of 493 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Texas sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for computer programmers — median $99,330 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $78,709 retained, $80,997 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $100,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Computer Programmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $143,300 |
| This salary | $99,330 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Texas | $78,709 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $78,709 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,915 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $99,330 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,227 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $99,330 as a midpoint for Texas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $60,120 and the ninetieth is $143,300 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $78,709, from $99,330, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 70 of 493 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $80,997 uses one figure for the whole of Texas. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 493 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 70.
- The Texas median of $99,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $60,120 to $143,300. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $78,709 from $99,330. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 70 of 493 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $80,997, worked from $99,330, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Texas address, on work sitting at 70 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $60,120 and the top tenth $143,300 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Texas is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $80,997 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $78,709 of this wage reaches your account, because Texas takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($60,120) and the ninetieth ($143,300) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Texas's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $80,997 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Texas levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $78,709 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.