What Petroleum Engineers earn in Austin County, TX
The median pay for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX is $169,870 per year, which works out to $81.67 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, the labor market that Austin County, TX belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $177,780, which is 4.7% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 4,770 people working in this occupation across the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Austin County, TX has roughly 31,170 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Petroleum Engineers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $89,990 a year ($43.26 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $288,530 or more ($138.72 an hour). That is a gap of $198,540 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $126,640 at the 25th percentile and $225,080 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 3.2 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX is $81.67. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $169,870, and the same salary is $14,156 a month before taxes or about $6,533 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $61.08 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Petroleum Engineers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Petroleum Engineers this way: "Devise methods to improve oil and gas extraction and production and determine the need for new or modified tool designs. Oversee drilling and offer technical advice."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Assess costs and estimate the production capabilities and economic value of oil and gas wells, to evaluate the economic viability of potential drilling sites"; "Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production"; "Analyze data to recommend placement of wells and supplementary processes to enhance production"; "Specify and supervise well modification and stimulation programs to maximize oil and gas recovery".
Job outlook for Petroleum Engineers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 18,500 jobs in 2025 to 18,800 in 2035, a change of +2%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 1,000 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 5.4% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $144,910 for this occupation; the Austin County, TX median of $169,870 is 17.2% above it.
How pay in Austin County, TX compares
Compared with the Texas average
Austin County, TX pays above the state benchmark. The Texas employment-weighted average for Petroleum Engineers is $164,019; the local median of $169,870 beats it by $5,851, or 3.6%. Within Texas, Austin County, TX already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Petroleum Engineers is $157,744 across the contiguous United States. At $169,870, Austin County, TX pays $12,126 more, which is 7.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Austin County, TX
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Austin County, TX, Petroleum Engineers ranks number 16 by median pay, ahead of about 98% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $172,160 a year, which is $2,290 more than the median for Petroleum Engineers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $169,870 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $42,831 a year, which leaves $127,039, or $10,587 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $25 goes to taxes and $75 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 25.2%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $154,120. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 24% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $29,836, an effective 17.6% of gross pay, well below the 24% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $10,532 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $2,463. FICA totals $12,995, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Texas
There is no state income tax on wages in Texas, which means Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX keep the full $127,039 left after federal and payroll taxes. For scale, a hypothetical flat 5% state tax on this salary would cost about $8,494 a year, so the absence of a state tax is worth roughly $708 a month.
A cross-check with IRS data for Austin County, TX
IRS Statistics of Income data for Austin County, TX show an average adjusted gross income of $82,299 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.3% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.8%, compared with the 17.6% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Austin County, TX
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Austin County, TX: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $127,039 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Austin County, TX is $817 a month, or $9,804 a year. A two-bedroom costs $1,069 a month. For Petroleum Engineers, a one-bedroom absorbs 7.7% of take-home pay and 5.8% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 2.0% of gross pay for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Texas residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,578 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $719, for $2,297 in total. Gasoline in Texas averages $2.88 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,334.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $16,871 a year, 13% of take-home pay. That leaves $110,168 a year, or $9,181 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 64.9% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Austin County, TX
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Austin County, TX: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Austin County, TX, set beside the Texas and national medians.
Property taxes in Austin County, TX
Homeowners in Austin County, TX pay a median of $3,433 a year in real estate taxes, 19% below the Texas median of $4,232 and 10% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $296,900, the median tax bill is 1.16% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Petroleum Engineers median of $169,870, a tax bill of that size would equal 2.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Austin County, TX
Renters in Austin County, TX pay a median gross rent of $1,137 a month in the Census survey, 19% below the Texas median of $1,403. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $817 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $296,900, 5% above the Texas median of $283,800. Median household income is $75,789, 3% below the Texas median of $78,476, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 12.9% of that income.
Commuting in Austin County, TX
Workers in Austin County, TX who travel to a workplace spend an average of 28.5 minutes each way, 7% above the Texas average of 26.7. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.8 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 8.8% of workers in Austin County, TX work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Petroleum Engineers afford to live in Austin County, TX?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $169,870 that ceiling is $4,247 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $817 is $3,430 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $15.71 an hour; the median for Petroleum Engineers is $81.67, which is 420% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $61.08 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 3.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,069 a month means $535 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $3,390 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $113,558.
How fast you can save
At $9,181 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 2 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 4 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Petroleum Engineers pay in Austin County, TX
What is the hourly wage for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX?
The median is $81.67 per hour, based on $169,870 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $43.26 at the 10th percentile to $138.72 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX?
After federal income tax, FICA, the median salary of $169,870 becomes $127,039 a year. That is $10,587 a month, $4,886 every two weeks or $2,443 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX?
Total taxes are $42,831 a year, an effective rate of 25.2%: $29,836 federal income tax, $12,995 FICA and no Texas income tax.
Is pay for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX above the Texas average?
Yes. The local median of $169,870 is +3.6% versus the Texas average of $164,019, a difference of $5,851 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Petroleum Engineers salary in Austin County, TX?
A one-bedroom costs $817 a month against take-home pay of $10,587, which is 7.7% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $4,247 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Petroleum Engineers in Austin County, TX?
About $9,181 a month ($110,168 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $16,871 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Austin County, TX at the 30% guideline?
$15.71 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $9,804 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Petroleum Engineers is $81.67.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Texas rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.