Couriers and Messengers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,725
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$5,535
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,706
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
$39,260
Kept after tax
$33,725
Worth in national money
$34,706
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Texas is 21 of 51 states for couriers and messengers, with a middle wage of $39,260. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Texas this is lower-paid work. Of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, couriers and messengers ranks 392. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $39,260, take-home of $33,725 is worth roughly $34,706 in national money. The average comes to $40,490, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Texas ranks 21 of 51 for couriers and messengers at $39,260. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Texas reports, couriers and messengers ranks 392 of 493, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for couriers and messengers, whose median is $39,260, the adjusted figure of $34,706 differs little from $33,725 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $40,490 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Couriers and Messengers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,490 |
| This salary | $39,260 |
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 | $33,725 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $33,725 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,106 |
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 | $39,260 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,711 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of couriers and messengers in Texas earn under $39,260 and half over. The published range runs $30,900 at the tenth percentile to $49,490 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Texas's $33,725, worked from $39,260. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 392 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Texas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,706, the adjusted value of that $39,260 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 392 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for couriers and messengers in Texas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,900 to $49,490; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Texas take-home of $33,725, on $39,260 for work ranking 392 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 392 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Texas, so $34,706 — the adjusted value of that $39,260 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 392 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,490, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,900 at the tenth percentile, $49,490 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Texas sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,706 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $33,725 survives, because Texas levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $40,490. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,900 to $49,490) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Texas rather than a national figure.
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 $34,706 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 $33,725 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.