Lawyers in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$116,662
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$37,538
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$120,053
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
$154,200
Kept after tax
$116,662
Worth in national money
$120,053
State rank
13
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Texas is one of the better-paying states for lawyers. The middle earner takes $154,200, which ranks 13 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.43% above the national middle.
- Within Texas this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, lawyers ranks 10 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Texas costs about what the country costs, so from $154,200, take-home of $116,662 is worth roughly $120,053 in national money. The average comes to $180,370, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Texas ranks 13 of 51 states publishing a median for lawyers, at $154,200 — about 3.43% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Texas publishes a median for, lawyers sits 10 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.
- Price parity in Texas is near the national base, so for lawyers, whose median is $154,200, the adjusted figure of $120,053 differs little from $116,662 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $180,370 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Lawyers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $79,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $154,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $349,490 |
| This salary | $154,200 |
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 | $116,662 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $116,662 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,284 |
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 | $154,200 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,025 |
| 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 lawyers in Texas earn under $154,200 and half over. The published range runs $79,340 at the tenth percentile to $349,490 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 $116,662, worked from $154,200. 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 10 of 493.
- One number stands for prices across all of Texas, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $120,053, the adjusted value of that $154,200 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 10 of 493 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for lawyers in Texas, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $79,340 to $349,490; 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 $116,662, on $154,200 for work ranking 10 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 10 of 493 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Texas, so $120,053 — the adjusted value of that $154,200 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 10 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 $180,370, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $79,340 and the top tenth $349,490 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $120,053.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $116,662 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 $180,370. 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 ($79,340) and the ninetieth ($349,490) 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 $120,053 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 $116,662 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.