Plumber Salary in Texas 2026,
$59,840 Median | BLS Data by City

Texas plumbers earn a median $59,840/yr ($28.77/hr) per BLS OEWS May 2025, roughly 6.2% below the $63,800 national median. The statewide range runs from about $38,270 (P10) to $81,890 (P90). Austin pays the most at $62,810; San Antonio runs lowest of the big four at $58,180.

Austin leads at about $62,810, lifted by data-center and commercial mechanical construction, followed closely by Houston ($61,300) on industrial and process work and Dallas–Fort Worth ($61,250) on commercial build-out. San Antonio ($58,180) trails. The Texas metros sit unusually close together, within about $4,600 top to bottom.

The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE) licenses plumbers, not TDLR. TSBPE issues the apprentice registration, the Tradesman Plumber-Limited Licence, the Journeyman licence and the Master licence, and it also designates the Responsible Master Plumber who can hold a company's plumbing permit authority.

Moving from a registered apprentice ($38,270) to a TSBPE journeyman ($59,840) adds a median $21,570/yr in Texas. Advancing to master ($74,100) adds roughly another $14,260. TSBPE exam fees run well under $200, making licence progression the single highest-return move available in the trade.

Often, yes. Texas has no state income tax, so a Texas plumber keeps more of the same gross than a counterpart in Illinois, California or New York. Combined with a lower cost of living, a Texas offer a few thousand under a coastal offer can leave more spendable income at the end of the month.

Because Texas plumbing is overwhelmingly open shop and the licence is issued statewide by TSBPE, so labour moves freely between Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. There is no union scale creating a step change between metros, which is why the four big markets sit within about $4,600 of each other rather than the $40,000 spreads seen in union states.

Texas ($59,840) actually trails Louisiana ($63,680) and Colorado ($63,240), both of which have more industrial process piping under the same SOC code. Texas leads Oklahoma ($57,970) and Arkansas ($48,660) by a wide margin, and it beats all of them once the zero state income tax is counted.

No, the BLS medians are base wage only. Data-center mechanical work in Austin and industrial process work on the Gulf Coast routinely add 10 to 20 overtime hours at 1.5x, and travelling industrial contracts add per-diem. Total annual earnings for a busy Texas journeyman run well above the base median.