Skilled Trades Wages in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX: What Employers Are Paying

A Candidate Just Countered Your Offer — Do You Know If Your Number Was Right?

You posted the job, screened the calls, and finally got someone worth making an offer to. You gave them what felt like a fair number — somewhere around what you paid the last person in that seat — and now they're pushing back. They say they have another interview this week, and they're not blinking.

This happens to DFW trade contractors every week. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro is one of the fastest-growing construction markets in the country, which means the candidate across the table from you almost certainly has options. And the uncomfortable truth is that "what we paid last time" is not the same thing as "what the market is paying right now."

This guide gives you the metro-level wage picture for dallas fort worth skilled trades wages, organized by trade and by percentile — so that when someone counters your offer, you know exactly whether to hold your number or move it.

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What MSA Wage Data Is and Why It Beats a National Average

Before the numbers: a quick orientation on what you're looking at. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey — a rolling, multi-panel survey drawing on roughly 1.1 million establishments nationally to produce wage estimates by occupation across the country, each of the 50 states, and more than 530 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs.

An MSA — if you haven't run across the term before — is a core city plus its economically connected surrounding counties, as defined by the federal government. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA (sometimes written DFW-Arlington) is the one you want when you're making an offer to someone who lives and works in this market. A national median tells you what the occupation earns across thousands of miles of varying cost-of-living and labor markets. The DFW MSA figure tells you what the person across the table from you can actually earn here.

For a deeper look at how MSA wage data works and why geography matters so much in a single offer decision, see our explainer on what an MSA is in wage data.

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How to Read a Percentile — and Why It Belongs in Your Offer

The OEWS doesn't just publish a single "average" wage. It publishes a range of percentiles: the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th. Here's what those mean in plain terms:

• 10th percentile: 9 out of 10 workers in this role earn more than this.
• 50th percentile (median): Half earn more, half earn less. This is the market midpoint.
• 75th percentile: Only 1 in 4 workers earns more. This is where you go for a competitive hire — someone experienced, in demand, or located in a hot specialty.
• 90th percentile: The top of the market. Master-level or highly specialized talent.

When you're making an offer, the question isn't just "what's the median?" It's "where does this candidate belong in the distribution, and where does the DFW market expect them to land?" A journeyman with five years of field experience and a specialty certification is not a median hire. Anchoring the offer there is how a candidate walks.

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Dallas-Fort Worth Skilled Trades Wages, by Trade

The figures below are drawn from the BLS OEWS survey for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA. Wage data is published annually; the most current release available at bls.gov/oes should be used to confirm these figures before you make an offer, as the market moves year over year.

Important note for the reader: DFW MSA-specific figures by trade and percentile must be confirmed at bls.gov/oes — navigate to the OES Data Viewer, select Metropolitan areas, choose Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, and search by SOC code for your trade. The table structure below reflects the data format you'll find there; the specific dollar figures should be verified against the current release. Where a metro cell is suppressed by BLS (meaning the occupation has fewer than 10 estimated employees in the area, or the estimate doesn't meet publication standards), the BLS recommends falling back to statewide Texas figures, which are available on the same tool. For a full Texas statewide picture, see our Texas skilled trades wages guide.

For each trade below, we've paired the DFW format with national context from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2024 release) so you can see where the metro tends to sit relative to the country. Once you pull the live DFW figures, the national medians give you a directional anchor.

Electricians (SOC 47-2111)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $62,350/yr | 10th percentile $39,430 | 90th percentile $106,030. Electricians nationally are growing at +9% through 2034 — roughly three times the economy-wide average — with about 81,000 annual job openings to fill. In a metro building at DFW's pace, local demand is likely to push the DFW median above the national figure, but confirm the live MSA number at bls.gov/oes before anchoring any offer.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2111, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA]: Use the BLS OES Data Viewer to pull the current 10th / 25th / median / 75th / 90th percentiles for this MSA. If a percentile cell shows "—" or "N/A," it is suppressed; use the Texas statewide figure for that row and note it in your offer documentation.

For a full breakdown of the electrician wage structure and how to build a salary band from percentile anchors, see our electrician salary guide.

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Plumbers, Pipefitters & Steamfitters (SOC 47-2152)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $62,970/yr ($30.27/hr) | +4% growth 2024–34 | ~44,000 annual openings. One important note: BLS OEWS publishes plumbers and pipefitters under a single wage series — SOC 47-2152. If you're hiring into either role, the wage row is the same; the O*NET occupational profile is where the work distinction shows up, not the wage data.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2152, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA]: Pull the full percentile range from the OES Data Viewer. As with electricians, any suppressed cell should be replaced with the Texas statewide figure.

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HVAC Mechanics & Installers (SOC 49-9021)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $59,810/yr | 10th percentile $39,130 | 90th percentile $91,020. Growth: +8% through 2034 (much faster than average) | ~40,100 annual openings. In a climate like North Texas — where cooling systems run hard for the better part of nine months — HVAC techs carry significant leverage at offer time. Don't assume the national median applies locally without checking.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 49-9021, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA]: Pull current percentile data for this MSA. For a broader breakdown of what HVAC pay looks like across experience levels, see our HVAC technician salary guide.

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Welders, Cutters, Solderers & Brazers (SOC 51-4121)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $51,000/yr | 10th percentile $38,130 | 90th percentile $75,850 | +2% growth 2024–34 | ~45,600 annual openings. Welding wages have a wider spread than most trades at the top end — specialized certified welders (pipe welding, structural) routinely land well above the median. Your percentile anchor matters more here, not less.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 51-4121, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA].

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Carpenters (SOC 47-2031)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $59,310/yr ($28.51/hr) | +4% growth 2024–34 | ~74,100 annual openings.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2031, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA].

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Sheet Metal Workers (SOC 47-2211)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $60,850/yr ($29.26/hr) | +2% growth 2024–34 | ~10,600 annual openings.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2211, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA].

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Structural Iron & Steel Workers (SOC 47-2221)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $62,700/yr | 10th percentile $42,000 | 90th percentile $107,520 | +4% growth 2024–34 | ~7,000 annual openings. Iron and steel work has one of the widest percentile spreads in the trades — the gap between a 10th-percentile and a 90th-percentile hire is more than $65,000/yr nationally. Getting the experience-level placement right is critical.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2221, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA].

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Construction Equipment Operators (SOC 47-2073)

National context (BLS, May 2024): Median $58,320/yr | 10th percentile $39,850 | 90th percentile $99,930 | +4% growth 2024–34.

DFW MSA figures [VERIFY AT BLS.GOV/OES — SOC 47-2073, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA].

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Why the DFW Market Puts Extra Pressure on Every Offer

Two structural forces make DFW a particularly competitive hiring environment for trade contractors right now.

The growth is relentless. The construction sector nationally is projected to need an estimated 439,000 net new workers in 2025 and 349,000 net new workers in 2026 (Associated Builders and Contractors). The DFW metro absorbs a disproportionate share of that demand — the crane count along the 635 loop is not a coincidence. When the pipeline is full and crews are stretched, experienced hands have options, and they know it.

The workforce is aging. Roughly 1 in 5 construction workers nationally is over age 55 (ABC). As that cohort retires, the supply of experienced journeymen and foremen tightens. In a market like DFW, where new commercial and residential projects compete for the same pool of licensed tradespeople, you are not just competing with other specialty contractors — you're competing with general contractors, construction managers, and industrial maintenance firms, all fishing the same pond.

Wages nationally for private-industry workers rose +3.4% year-over-year as of March 2026 (Employment Cost Index, BLS). For construction and extraction occupations — which carry a higher-than-average growth trajectory — the pressure is unlikely to be lighter than that. An offer built on what you paid two years ago is almost certainly behind the market.

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Turning a Percentile into a Three-Number Offer Band

A single "offer number" is a negotiating liability. A salary band — a minimum, midpoint, and maximum for a role — gives you a principled range to work within and protects you from both overpaying an entry-level hire and losing an experienced one over a small gap.

Here's a simple worked example using a national median as the anchor (replace with your verified DFW MSA median once you've pulled it from bls.gov/oes):

Example — Electrician offer band (illustrative, using May 2024 national median)

• Anchor: $62,350/yr (BLS, May 2024, national median for SOC 47-2111)
• Band min (entry / apprentice-level): anchor × 0.85 ≈ $53,000/yr
• Band midpoint: anchor = $62,350/yr
• Band max (senior / top of market): anchor × 1.20 ≈ $74,820/yr

When you swap in the DFW MSA median as the anchor, the band shifts to reflect what local workers actually earn — not what the country averages. That's the difference between an offer that wins and one that gets countered.

For a full walkthrough of salary-band methodology by trade, see our trade wage data hub. If you want to see what this looks like with your metro's live numbers, explore our features or compare plans at our pricing page.

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Pull Your DFW Numbers and Make the Next Offer Confidently

The metro wage data you need is publicly available — the BLS publishes OEWS estimates for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA at bls.gov/oes, updated annually. The work is in knowing which SOC codes to pull, how to read the percentile table, and how to turn those numbers into a band that holds up in a negotiation.

If you're making offers across multiple trades — or across DFW and Houston and other Texas metros — doing that lookup manually for each hire adds up fast. SkilledMarkets pulls that same BLS OEWS data, maps it to trade SOC codes, and gives you a salary-band generator that runs the math before the candidate calls back. Start a free 14-day trial and see what your next DFW electrician offer looks like when it's built on the actual metro numbers.

For the statewide Texas picture, see our Texas skilled trades wages guide. If you're also hiring in Houston, our Houston skilled trades wages guide covers that MSA's trade-by-trade breakdown.