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

The median general contractor in Texas earned $73,420 a year in May 2024, which is $35 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 89,960 general contractors the BLS counts in Texas earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $58,420 and $87,740. 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 general contractor keeps in Texas

For a single filer on the median $73,420, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

Texas takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $3,671 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 general contractor pay

Of the 50 states, Texas ranks 40 of 50 on the gross median for general contractors. The highest-paying state is New Jersey at $103,850 and the lowest is Arkansas at $62,200. 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:

None of Texas's neighbours beats it on take-home for general contractors. New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma 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 general contractor jobs are in Texas

The BLS count of 89,960 general contractors 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 ($87,740 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 general contractor pay in Texas

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Texas is $37 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($35) is what the typical general contractor 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 $71,420 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $76,420 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 General contractor. 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.