Texas has a population of 29 million people and many of those are chasing their own individual careers. But what are the best paying jobs that are available in Texas?
In this article we’ll be answering this question, so that you know where it is you’re aiming to get to. Without further ado let’s get started.
Petroleum Engineers
Texas is widely regarded as the oil and gas capital of the world, and of that capital in Houston alone there are more than 500 different oil and gas production and exploration firms that allow the state to live up to that title.
Houston is home to 9 different refineries that process 2.3 million barrels of crude oil every day alone.
Not only is this an absolutely staggering amount of oil, it puts Houston as one of the leading producers of oil on the planet.
Therefore,if you’ve got any experience in working with petroleum or similar substances then Housten is the place to be for you.
Moving 2.3 million barrels of oil through production every day is not an easy task, and for this petroleum engineers are very well compensated with the average engineer earning around $169,760 a year in this profession.
General Pediatrician
No matter where you are in the world, health will always come first. This is naturally still the case all over Texas, with doctors making on average $172,950 a year.
Being a doctor will always pay well, and there’s no exception here.
Working With Technology
There’s hundreds of different types of jobs that are available when it comes to working with computers and IT. But Texas in particular is booming in the field of technology right now.
Dallas, Austin and Houston areas in particular are experiencing an enormous amount of growth in technological themed jobs, with many different technological giants moving from areas like silicon valley to Texas, this is because the Texican marketplace is an extremely lucrative place for young companies and old, massive ones to have their businesses based here, the tax conditions are perfect as there’s no corporate or individual income tax, compared to somewhere like california, where the tax rate hits up to 11% for corporations and 12% for individuals.
As well as this, Texas offers great incentives for new businesses, to try and promote pro business environments in these massive cities for tech companies and the like to not just survive, but thrive.
Every year the government hands out billions of dollars to companies in order to see them thrive.
They really do Thrive as well, with 17,600 different technological firms employing 203,700, you can expect to make at least $50,000 a year but obviously this can fluctuate massively, the sky really is the limit here when you’re talking about massive corporations like Apple and Dell, just to name a couple.
Working With Space
We’ve all heard the line ‘Houston we have a problem’ only there’s no problem here at all.
The space industry is a massive one, bringing Texas alone $11 billion dollars every single year, and employing 100,000 people, jobs can really vary.
From being an aerospace engineer to an actual astronaut yourself, having a career in space can be a profitable one indeed whilst living in Texas.
And it’s not just about flying into space either, companies like NASA, SpaceX and BlueOrigin have all had ties in sending rockets up in Texas.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has a facility located just outside of Brownsville, right near Boca Chica beach, which brings in enormous amounts of money not only to the area, but all workers that surround the area.
Building rocket parts, designing them, testing materials and coordinating flights are just a handful of the different jobs that are on offer when it comes to working with space, and the enormous range of careers that it can coincide with.
Of course because of this enormous rift, it’s exceptionally difficult to estimate an average salary for working in the aerospace industry in Texas, but here’s a few subgroups we can break down for some much needed clarity on the subject, just remember that these are averages, and the pay ranges for every aspect of the aerospace industry can massively fluctuate.
Average Blue Origin Salary- $84,326
Average NASA Salary- $87,880
Average SpaceX Salary- $95,311
Airline Pilots, Co-Pilots And Flight Engineers
Similarly to doctors, wherever you go in the world, pilots, copilots and flight engineers will always be well paid jobs, they’re time consuming, stressful jobs that require a lot of travel, and Texas is a massive place.
Pilots and other supporting roles pay has been increasing over the years too, with more and more people choosing to fly now more than ever, and less people going into the field, being an airline pilot, co-pilot or engineer can pay extremely well in Texas.
Construction
Like we keep saying, Texas is big, and so you’ve got to be able to fill it with many different things.
Texas is home to massive cities like Housten, Austin, and Dallas. But even smaller cities still span many miles across.
According to the federal reserve bank, construction accounted for 4.3% of US GDP in the very first quarter of 2021.
This is a massive amount, and is parallelled with Texas where the associated general contractors of america reports that construction contributed 5.3% of the entire states GDP in 2020, this roughly translates to $100.9 billion dollars.
Through all of this construction leaders have placed Texas as a frontrunner in innovative and sustainable building practices.
Therefore it’s easy to see how working in construction can be a relatively lucrative business to find yourself in.
These are well paid and long-term styled jobs, that you’d find yourself getting comfortable in for a long period of time, whilst being compensated well for your work obviously.
This also feeds other industries massively too, as equipment needed to build things, landscape areas and maintaining what is already built is always needed, and materials like glass, steel, and bricks will always be required.
Around 700,000 people are employed in the construction industry in Texas, and you could pretty safely say that most if not all are paid well for their work, but similarly to previous entries on this list, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how much you’d expect to get paid but you’d find yourself within the enormous salary range of $25,000 to $471,000
Transportation
Transportation is a huge part of Texas as 1 in 16 Texans find themselves employed by the trucking industry alone, this is because there’s currently over 66,000 different trucking companies that are based in Texas and work together to make Texas the entire nation’s top exporter for 19 consecutive years.
This is because of the infrastructure that’s been build all through Texas, as it has more miles of freight rail, and public roads than any other state, totalling in around 313,200 miles of public road, and 10,539 miles of freight rail altogether.
When you see all of these statistics together, it’s easy to understand why transportation is an enormous job in Texas.
From driving trucks, trains and whatever else is needed to transport goods, and servicing the roads that they use to do it all on. There’s a job for everyone.
If you’re up for the task of being a truck driver, then there’s plenty of high paying companies that would take you on given the proper qualifications and experience.
Because of the amount of different companies present in Texas, pay can vary enormously, but here’s some of the top paying trucking companies
Sysco- $87,204
Walmart- $86,000
Epes Transport- $83,921
Acme Truck line- $82,892
Transport doesn’t end here at all though.
There are managers that plan shipments and deliveries, Mechanics for transport used, Public transportation workers, Road maintenance workers, even taxi drivers are all different types of roles that you can expect from the transportation industry in Texas.
Final Thoughts
Texas is for the most part, at the forefront of many different sectors, there’s new and innovative career opportunities that are available all over the state, and hopefully this has been shown from our list.
Whatever your passion, there’s a great career that you can make from it in Texas, the list is essentially endless.
So we hope that this list helped to point out some different career paths that are available in the Lone Star State.
Hi, my name is Robert Miller, and I have lived in Texas all my life. I am proud of my state, and decided to set up this site to share its beauty with others. Through Texans United, I will be talking readers through everything they need to know about Texas. From the best places to eat, and sites to visit, to its history and useful information.
