SOC 53-4022 · Transportation and Material Moving Occupations · May 2025

How much do Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers make in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $47,750. The 10th percentile is $40,060 and the 90th percentile is $63,370. Employment is 270.

Median annual wage

$47,750

10th percentile
$40,060
25th percentile
$46,720
Median
$47,750
75th percentile
$57,820
90th percentile
$63,370
Mean
$51,870

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

An auto mechanic working on a car engine
An auto mechanic working on an engine. Photograph by Okpashira. Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Percentile spread

For Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers, the published 10th percentile is $40,060 and the 90th percentile is $63,370. The difference is $23,310, which is 48.8% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $46,720 to the 75th at $57,820, covers $11,100.

The mean annual wage is $51,870, which sits above the median of $47,750. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX median is 30.6% lower than the national median of $68,840 for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers. In 2024 national prices the local median is $48,414, which is 29.7% lower than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 33.3% lower than the Texas median of $71,580.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 98.629, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $47,750 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers at $48,414 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

No other metropolitan area within 200 miles has a published annual median for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers in the May 2025 tables. A wage from farther away is not filled in. When a wage is not published.

Employment share

Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers accounts for 0.01% of wage-and-salary employment in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX (270 of 3,289,720). Nationally the occupation is 0.01% of employment (12,400 of 155,495,730). The local share is 1.03 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.

Highest-paying jobs in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX · Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers by metro · How to read these percentiles · Median and mean · When a wage is not published · How the figures are made · Compare this wage after prices

Questions this page answers

How much do Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers make in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is $47,750. The 10th percentile is $40,060 and the 90th percentile is $63,370. Employment is 270.

How does that compare with the national median for Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers?

The local median is 30.6% lower than the national median of $68,840.

What is Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers pay in Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX is 98.629, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $47,750 is $48,414. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.