Highway Maintenance Workers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,771
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$6,769
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,899
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
$45,540
Kept after tax
$38,771
Worth in national money
$39,899
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Texas pays highway maintenance workers a middle wage of $45,540, 39 of 49 states and about 9.39% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 342 among 493 occupations Texas publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $45,540, take-home of $38,771 is worth roughly $39,899 in national money. The average lands at $44,770, below the middle of the range.
- Texas's $45,540 median for highway maintenance workers places it 39 of 49 states, about 9.39% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 342 of 493 in Texas places highway maintenance workers 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.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for highway maintenance workers, whose median is $45,540, the adjusted figure of $39,899 differs little from $38,771 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $44,770 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,540 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,990 |
| This salary | $45,540 |
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 | $38,771 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $38,771 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,421 |
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 | $45,540 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,117 |
| 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 highway maintenance workers in Texas earn under $45,540 and half over. The published range runs $32,410 at the tenth percentile to $58,990 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Texas the take-home figure of $38,771, from $45,540, 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 342 of 493 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Texas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $39,899, the adjusted value of that $45,540 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 342 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for highway maintenance workers in Texas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,410 to $58,990; 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.
- Take-home for Texas is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,771 from $45,540. 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 342 of 493 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Texas, so $39,899 — the adjusted value of that $45,540 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 342 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $32,410 at the bottom tenth to $58,990 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $39,899 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $38,771 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,410 to $58,990) 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 $39,899 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 $38,771 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.