Cost Estimators in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,985
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$13,995
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,816
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
$76,980
Kept after tax
$62,985
Worth in national money
$64,816
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas sits in the middle of the pack for cost estimators. The median is $76,980, ranking 31 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Cost estimators ranks 133 among 493 occupations Texas publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $76,980 the take-home is $62,985, which is worth about $64,816 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $83,780, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Texas occupies the middle band for cost estimators: a median of $76,980, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 133 of 493 in Texas places cost estimators in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for cost estimators on its $76,980 median: $62,985 retained after tax becomes $64,816 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $83,780 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,310 |
| This salary | $76,980 |
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 | $62,985 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $62,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,933 |
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 | $76,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,783 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,980 as a midpoint for Texas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,760 and the ninetieth is $132,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $62,985 take-home in Texas comes from $76,980. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 133 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Texas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,816, the adjusted value of that $76,980 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 133 of 493 in the state.
- The Texas median of $76,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,760 to $132,310. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $62,985, from $76,980, assumes a single Texas filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 133 of 493 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Texas, so $64,816 — the adjusted value of that $76,980 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 133 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $83,780, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $45,760 at the bottom tenth to $132,310 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $64,816 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $62,985 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.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Texas is $83,780. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,760) and the ninetieth ($132,310) 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 $64,816 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 $62,985 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.