Dentist Salary in Texas: What Dentists Earn in 2026
25th percentile
$119,990
Median (50th)
$162,360
75th percentile
$216,390
National median
$170,950
BLS OEWS (SOC 29-1021), May 2025
What does a dentist make in Texas?
The median dentist in Texas earns $162,360 a year ($78.06 an hour), which is $8,590 below the national median of $170,950, but less than in nearby Arkansas ($178,930), Louisiana ($170,750) and Oklahoma ($166,170). The mean is $178,360.
That ranks 35th of the 47 states where BLS publishes a dentist median.
Entry-level vs top earners in Texas
The middle half of Texas dentists earn $119,990 to $216,390. The lowest-paid tenth earn under $83,990, $2,260 below the national 10th percentile. The top tenth earn over $308,220, $11,410 below the national 90th percentile.
How far the pay goes in Texas
The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Texas's 2024 price level at 97.1 (U.S. = 100): prices overall run 2.9% below the national average, and housing (index 96.5) runs 3.5% below.
Converted to national average prices, the $162,360 median is worth about $167,280 — $3,670 below the national median of $170,950.
How many dentists work in Texas
BLS counts about 8,920 dentist jobs in Texas, 7.2% of the 124,390 nationwide, or 0.634 per 1,000 jobs in the state. Dentists hold a 21% smaller share of local jobs than nationally (location quotient 0.79).
Dentist Salary by City in Texas
All dental roles by metro: Abilene · Amarillo · Brownsville · Corpus Christi · Dallas · El Paso · Houston · McAllen · San Antonio · Tyler · Victoria
Who's hiring dentists in Texas now
DentistryHires has 104 open dentist listings in Texas from 8 employers, the most of them in San Antonio (16).
29 post a salary from $40,000 to $470,400 a year. These are employers' posted ranges, not survey figures.
Dentist Regulatory Context in Texas
Dentist practice in Texas is regulated by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners.
Scope of practice — what a dentist may do, and under what level of supervision — is set by state law and changes over time, so verify current rules with the board before relying on them.
How Texas Compares
Other dental salaries in Texas
- Dental Hygienist salary in Texas: median $99,240, $63,120 below the dentist median
- Dental Assistant salary in Texas: median $45,430, $116,930 below the dentist median
- Dental Lab Technician salary in Texas: median $46,330, $116,030 below the dentist median
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national estimates, all industries); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024. Price-adjusted pay divides the median by the price level. Listing counts and posted pay are live DentistryHires listings, refreshed hourly. A dash means BLS did not publish that figure; nothing is estimated.