Operations Research Analysts in Texas
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,644
after federal, FICA and Texas tax
Tax takes
$18,066
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,756
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
$90,710
Kept after tax
$72,644
Worth in national money
$74,756
State rank
22
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Texas is 22 of 47 states for operations research analysts, with a middle wage of $90,710. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Texas this is well-paid work. Of 493 occupations with published figures in the state, operations research analysts ranks 89 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $90,710 the take-home is $72,644, which is worth about $74,756 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $100,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Texas ranks 22 of 47 for operations research analysts at $90,710. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Texas publishes a median for, operations research analysts sits 89 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.
- Texas's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for operations research analysts on its $90,710 median: $72,644 retained after tax becomes $74,756 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $100,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $90,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $164,570 |
| This salary | $90,710 |
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 | $72,644 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Florida | $72,644 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,536 |
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 | $90,710 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,670 |
| Prices in Florida | 103 vs 97 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $90,710 as a midpoint for Texas, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $57,840 and the ninetieth is $164,570 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Texas's $72,644, worked from $90,710. 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 89 of 493.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,756 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 89.
- The Texas median of $90,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $57,840 to $164,570. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Texas take-home of $72,644, on $90,710 for work ranking 89 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 89 of 493 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,756, worked from $90,710, 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 89 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $100,070 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $57,840 and the top tenth $164,570 — 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 $74,756.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $72,644 survives, because Texas levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $100,070. 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 ($57,840) and the ninetieth ($164,570) 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 $74,756 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 $72,644 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.