Cooks, restaurant job market in Texas

Name: Cooks, restaurant in Texas: occupation-weighted industry context
Creator: JobMarketHealth

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Texas industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Cooks, restaurant in Texas.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitation Evidence record

Occupation pay

What Cooks, restaurant earn in Texas

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$34,760Texas

Middle 50% of published wages: $28,540 – $37,030
U.S. median annual wage: $37,390
Reference period: May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Texas

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Cooks, restaurant, compared with the Texas median of $34,760.

Texas median$34,760

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX$36,810+5.9% vs. state

Middle 50%$31,860 – $39,320Published employment13,000

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$36,490+5.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$30,150 – $38,920Published employment34,430

Midland, TX$35,670+2.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,330 – $38,470Published employment900

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$35,050+0.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,290 – $37,090Published employment32,710

Odessa, TX$34,900+0.4% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,690 – $37,280Published employment840

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX$34,860+0.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$29,030 – $36,260Published employment10,860

View 12 more published metro areas

College Station-Bryan, TX$32,630−6.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$28,250 – $35,650Published employment1,410

Sherman-Denison, TX$31,760−8.6% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,660 – $35,880Published employment510

Waco, TX$31,500−9.4% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,450 – $35,980Published employment1,140

Corpus Christi, TX$30,670−11.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,310 – $35,410Published employment2,130

Amarillo, TX$30,560−12.1% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,290 – $35,200Published employment1,300

Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX$30,520−12.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,630 – $35,770Published employment1,480

Killeen-Temple, TX$30,510−12.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,230 – $35,170Published employment1,340

Tyler, TX$30,300−12.8% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,230 – $35,020Published employment1,050

Lubbock, TX$30,250−13.0% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,060 – $35,040Published employment1,700

Abilene, TX$30,180−13.2% vs. state

Middle 50%$27,340 – $35,080Published employment730

Longview, TX$29,930−13.9% vs. state

Middle 50%$26,280 – $34,650Published employment920

San Angelo, TX$29,800−14.3% vs. state

Middle 50%$26,000 – $34,510Published employment510

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Texas median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Texas’s weighted industry mix.

+0.8%Industry employmentTexas industry employmentU.S. +0.6%vs. +0.6% U.S.

+2.3%Establishments in weighted industriesTexas establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.1%vs. +2.1% U.S.

+3.3%Avg. weekly industry wageTexas avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.8% · not occupation payvs. +2.8% U.S. · not occupation pay

+0.1 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 78,436 represented establishments, 96.14% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for cooks, restaurant in Texas

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

Leisure and hospitality has the largest positive weighted contribution

The positive weighted contributions in Texas are concentrated in Leisure and hospitality: it accounts for 98.2% across the leading industry groups examined in January to March 2026, with its own employment changing +0.8% year over year. The calculation weights industry groups by their shares of this occupation's national industry mix; the examined groups cover 99.5% of the mix. This describes an employment-growth proxy, not occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Pay differs widely between metro areas

The median wage at the upper end of Texas's metro comparison is 30.9% above the lower end in OEWS May 2025. The 25 published estimates on a shared wage basis extend from Laredo, TX at $28,120 to Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX at $36,810. The wage difference alone does not account for living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

The OEWS May 2025 estimates put median annual pay for cooks, restaurant at $34,760 in Texas and $37,390 nationally. The state median is 7.0% lower. Living costs are not included in this comparison, and individual workers' pay varies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Texas industry employment over time

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values

Texas · 2026 Q1+0.8%
U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.6%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value

Quarterly Texas industry employment changes and coverage
Quarter	Texas	Coverage
2024 Q2	+2.4%	100%
2024 Q3	+1.4%	100%
2024 Q4	+2.0%	100%
2025 Q1	+1.5%	100%
2025 Q2	+1.2%	100%
2025 Q3	+1.0%	100%
2025 Q4	+0.7%	100%
2026 Q1	+0.8%	100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Texas’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters: 8
Earliest quarter: 2024 Q2
Latest quarter: 2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark: +0.6%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Cooks, restaurant Work

The occupation mix determines which Texas industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Texas Cooks, restaurant context
Industry group	Occupation mix	Employment change	Establishments	Avg. weekly industry wage
Leisure and hospitality	96.0%	+0.8%	78,436	$576
Trade, transportation, and utilities	0.9%	-0.2%	162,594	$1,485
State and local	0.7%	+0.5%	13,725	$1,273
Manufacturing	0.7%	-0.4%	31,528	$2,126
Other services	0.6%	+0.8%	62,379	$1,117
Professional and business services	0.6%	+0.9%	192,656	$2,210

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Texas employment change are listed.

Professional and business services+0.9%
Leisure and hospitality+0.8%
Other services+0.8%
State and local+0.5%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Texas context

Current Texas Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Texas. They are not Cooks, restaurant demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Texas

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

118.6Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026

+18.6%Versus the February 2020 baseline

+0.8%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index

Indeed postings index
Observation date	Index (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026	114.05
Jul 31, 2026	113.97
Aug 7, 2026	113.53
Aug 14, 2026	114.15
Aug 21, 2026	114.29
Aug 28, 2026	114.83
Sep 4, 2026	115.34
Sep 11, 2026	116.90
Sep 18, 2026	117.48
Sep 25, 2026	117.58
Oct 2, 2026	117.56
Oct 9, 2026	118.31
Oct 16, 2026	118.27
Oct 23, 2026	118.56

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide WARN notices

Texas statewide

26 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in Texas’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.

Texas Workforce Commission About WARN data

Source last checked 2026-11-02 07:03 UTC

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Cooks, restaurant in Texas FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Cooks, restaurant in Texas?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Texas industries weighted to Cooks, restaurant changed +0.8% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.6% nationwide.

Are wages for Cooks, restaurant rising in Texas?

QCEW does not publish pay for Cooks, restaurant in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +3.3% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Texas industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Cooks, restaurant openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation: Cooks, restaurant
SOC code: 35-2014
State: Texas
QCEW release label: QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period: 2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year: +0.8%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year: +0.6%
Difference from U.S. benchmark: +0.1 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year: +2.3%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year: +3.3%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage: EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date: Aug 28, 2026
Source verification: Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL: https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/cooks-restaurant/texas#evidence-record
Derived by: JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Methodology BLS QCEW How to cite QCEW state context release, 2026 Q1

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.