- The middle half earn between $17.46 and $24.07 an hour.
- Texas is 42nd of the 48 states with published figures, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Texas pays more than 3 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,420 locksmiths on payrolls in Texas.
- At the state median wage, a locksmith business needs to bill about $107.63 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Locksmith pay in Texas, bottom to top
BLS files these as locksmiths and safe repairers: the people who open and repair locks, make keys, change locks and combinations, and install and repair safes.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $8.77 | $18,230 | $17.08 |
| 25th percentile | $17.46 | $36,320 | $20.75 |
| Median | $21.09 | $43,860 | $24.68 |
| 75th percentile | $24.07 | $50,070 | $31.04 |
| 90th percentile | $28.50 | $59,280 | $38.17 |
| Average (mean) | $20.29 | $42,200 | $26.67 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Texas. The bottom tenth earn $8.77 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $28.50 or more, a gap of 3.2 times against 2.2 nationally. Where a locksmith sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $8.31 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $9.67 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage ($20.29) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Texas.
How Texas compares with other states
Over a full year, the Texas median of $43,860 is $7,460 less than the national $51,320.
In the state ranking, Texas sits 42nd, between North Dakota ($21.30) and Idaho ($20.90). The range runs from $17.20 in Arkansas to $36.89 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, Texas is in the middle: Louisiana pays more, and Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma pay less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Texas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | $21.09 | $43,860 | |
| Arkansas | $17.20 | $35,770 | −$3.89 an hour |
| Louisiana | $22.38 | $46,550 | +$1.29 an hour |
| New Mexico | $20.15 | $41,920 | −$0.94 an hour |
| Oklahoma | $18.59 | $38,680 | −$2.50 an hour |
How many locksmiths work in Texas
BLS estimates 1,420 locksmiths on payrolls in Texas, 9.4% of the 15,040 nationwide. Only 2 states have more.
That is 0.1 of every 1,000 jobs in Texas, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a locksmith business in Texas should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a locksmith business in Texas paying the state median of $21.09, on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $21.09 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $47,223 |
| Break-even rate | ($47,223 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $91.48 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $91.48 ÷ 0.85 | $107.63 |
That is $107.63 per billable hour, 5.1 times the wage, and $6.30 less than the $113.93 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $24.07 in Texas, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $112.86.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $17.46, the rate only drops to $101.25.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as a locksmith in Texas
- Licensing. What Texas asks for before you can work on your own: Locksmith license in Texas.
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how locksmiths run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 49-9094, locksmiths and safe repairers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: locksmith salary by state.