Texas Tribune Database Covers All 116 State Agencies
The Texas Tribune published a searchable salary database on July 1, 2026, covering every position across all 116 Texas state agencies. The data was obtained from the state comptroller under the Texas Public Information Act, which requires disclosure of how public funds are spent.
156,820 state employees whose salaries are now publicly searchable, from Governor Greg Abbott down to entry-level customer service staff
The database is one of the most complete public compensation records available for any U.S. state government. Texas law does not require the state to volunteer this information, but it cannot legally withhold it when requested.
Median Pay of $61,525 Masks Wide Agency-to-Agency Gaps
The statewide median salary across all agencies is $61,525. That number covers a wide range: executive directors at major agencies earn salaries far above the median, while frontline workers at agencies like Texas Parks and Wildlife often fall well below it.
Texas Parks and Wildlife manages 89 state parks. Park rangers there represent one of the lower-paid frontline classifications in the database. The agency’s executive director salary sits at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Tribune’s tool lets users compare any employee’s compensation to their agency median.
Pay gaps between agencies reflect budget priorities set by the Texas Legislature. Agencies that depend heavily on federal matching funds, like the Health and Human Services Commission, tend to show different compensation structures than agencies funded almost entirely by state appropriations.
Why This Data Matters for Accountability
Public salary databases are a direct check on patronage hiring and pay inequity. When compensation records are hidden, it is harder to identify whether political appointees are paid above market rate, whether women and workers of color are concentrated in lower salary bands, or whether agencies are understaffed because wages are too low to compete.
Texas law gives the public the right to this data, but accessing it requires knowing to ask. The Tribune’s annual request and publication removes that barrier for any resident, journalist, or elected official who wants to scrutinize how the state spends its payroll budget. The Texas Tribune and ProPublica are also actively soliciting tips from current state employees about workplace conditions and pay practices.
What You Can Do Now
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Search the database at texastribune.org and look up your state agency or a specific official. If you find compensation anomalies, such as a political appointee paid substantially above agency peers, document the name, title, agency, and salary before contacting your state representative.
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Contact your Texas state representative or senator using the Texas Legislature’s member lookup at capitol.texas.gov/Members/Members.aspx. Ask them to explain pay disparities at agencies in your district, particularly at understaffed agencies where median salaries fall below $50,000.
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Submit a tip to the Texas Tribune and ProPublica at [email protected] if you are a current or former Texas state employee with knowledge of pay inequity, retaliation against workers who raise compensation concerns, or political favoritism in hiring decisions. The outlets are conducting an active investigation.
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Request salary data from your city or county using the Texas Public Information Act. The state database covers state agencies only. Local government salaries require separate requests. The Texas Attorney General’s open records portal at texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-government has template request letters.