Manufacturing pay in Texas after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median production worker in Texas earned $37,420 a year in May 2024, which is $18 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 95,140 production workers the BLS counts in Texas earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $32,560 and $45,830. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Texas's tax, and Texas has no state income tax on wages.

What the median production worker keeps in Texas

For a single filer on the median $37,420, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

Texas takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $1,871 a year against a state with a flat 5% tax on the same salary. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Texas ranks for production worker pay

Of the 50 states, Texas ranks 49 of 50 on the gross median for production workers, in the bottom ten. The highest-paying state is North Dakota at $47,720 and the lowest is Arkansas at $36,630. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Texas, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

Louisiana leaves a production worker with more at the end of the year than Texas does; Louisiana by about $3,642. Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the production worker jobs are in Texas

The BLS count of 95,140 production workers is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($45,830 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Texas openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about production worker pay in Texas

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Texas is $19 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($18) is what the typical production worker makes.
• Comparing gross across states. Texas's zero state tax means its gross understates it against taxed states.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $35,420 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $40,420 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Houston pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Texas, on one page

The Texas page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Texas this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Texas employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Manufacturing. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.