Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors job market in Texas

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 Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Texas.

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

Occupation pay

What Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors 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

$67,900Texas
Middle 50% of published wages
$49,770 – $82,460
U.S. median annual wage
$64,330
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 Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.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 Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, compared with the Texas median of $67,900.

Texas median$67,900
Odessa, TX$101,810+49.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$64,900 – $101,810Published employment120
Eagle Pass, TX$86,520+27.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$86,520 – $103,970Published employment70
Victoria, TX$84,430+24.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,310 – $94,620Published employment100
Midland, TX$83,300+22.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,960 – $83,300Published employment180
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX$80,390+18.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$60,810 – $100,740Published employment990
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$76,380+12.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$56,730 – $88,710Published employment7,980
View 12 more published metro areas
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX$75,930+11.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$57,350 – $85,660Published employment6,480
Killeen-Temple, TX$72,800+7.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$48,580 – $100,240Published employment390
Tyler, TX$72,770+7.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,500 – $92,500Published employment220
Brownsville-Harlingen, TX$72,520+6.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$52,230 – $101,500Published employment510
El Paso, TX$70,810+4.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$43,820 – $80,940Published employment960
Wichita Falls, TX$68,440+0.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,250 – $94,500Published employment160
Lubbock, TX$67,900Same as state at displayed precision
Middle 50%$67,900 – $81,170Published employment630
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX$66,000−2.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$46,830 – $77,810Published employment300
Sherman-Denison, TX$65,660−3.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,450 – $99,600Published employment150
Waco, TX$65,630−3.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$51,930 – $82,160Published employment380
Longview, TX$64,680−4.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,140 – $80,500Published employment260
Amarillo, TX$63,660−6.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,340 – $74,520Published employment300

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.

+1.9%Industry employmentTexas industry employmentU.S. +2.1%vs. +2.1% U.S.
+3.1%Establishments in weighted industriesTexas establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +6.8%vs. +6.8% U.S.
+2.0%Avg. weekly industry wageTexas avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.4% · not occupation payvs. +2.4% U.S. · not occupation pay
-0.2 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: 117,663 represented establishments, 94.88% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Texas

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

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

The OEWS May 2025 comparison for Texas shows a pay premium alongside a smaller employment estimate. Odessa, TX's median annual pay of $101,810 is 33.3% higher than Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX's $76,380, while their employment estimates are 120 and 7,980, respectively. Among 26 metros with both usable measures, the former has the highest median pay and the latter the largest employment estimate. These counts describe existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

The positive weighted contributions in Texas are concentrated in Private education and health services: it accounts for 98.3% across the leading industry groups examined in January to March 2026, with its own employment changing +2.0% year over year. The calculation weights industry groups by their shares of this occupation's national industry mix; the examined groups cover 99.9% of the mix. This describes an employment-growth proxy, not occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is above the U.S. median

OEWS May 2025 records a state median annual wage of $67,900 for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Texas. Against the national median of $64,330, that is 5.5% higher. A median describes the middle of the distribution and does not include a living-cost adjustment.

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

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+1.9%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+2.1%

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

View every published value
Quarterly Texas industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterTexasCoverage
2024 Q2+2.5%100%
2024 Q3+2.5%100%
2024 Q4+2.6%100%
2025 Q1+3.1%100%
2025 Q2+2.5%100%
2025 Q3+2.3%100%
2025 Q4+2.3%100%
2026 Q1+1.9%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
+2.1%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors Work

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

Industries weighted into the Texas Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services94.9%+2.0%117,663$1,236
State and local2.0%+0.5%13,725$1,273
Other services1.6%+0.8%62,379$1,117
Professional and business services1.2%+0.9%192,656$2,210
Federal0.2%-7.1%3,564$2,154
Leisure and hospitality0.1%+0.8%78,436$576

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

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

  • Private education and health services+2.0%
  • Professional and business services+0.9%
  • Other services+0.8%
  • Leisure and hospitality+0.8%

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 Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors 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 dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026114.05
Jul 31, 2026113.97
Aug 7, 2026113.53
Aug 14, 2026114.15
Aug 21, 2026114.29
Aug 28, 2026114.83
Sep 4, 2026115.34
Sep 11, 2026116.90
Sep 18, 2026117.48
Sep 25, 2026117.58
Oct 2, 2026117.56
Oct 9, 2026118.31
Oct 16, 2026118.27
Oct 23, 2026118.56

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

Career context

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

Questions answered by this release

Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Texas FAQs

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

Is employment growing for Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in Texas?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Texas industries weighted to Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors changed +1.9% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +2.1% nationwide.

Are wages for Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors rising in Texas?

QCEW does not publish pay for Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.0% 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 Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors 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
Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
SOC code
21-1012
State
Texas
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+1.9%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+2.1%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
-0.2 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
+3.1%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+2.0%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/educational-guidance-and-career-counselors-and-advisors/texas#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

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.

Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors in other states