Commercial trade rates in Houston.
Estimated commercial rates for all 8 trades tracked in Houston, built from O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates wage data, for facility and property teams benchmarking vendor invoices.
Rates by trade
Plumbing (estimated)$81/hr median · $59–$109 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Electrical (estimated)$78/hr median · $57–$106 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
HVAC and Refrigeration (estimated)$78/hr median · $57–$107 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
General Maintenance (estimated)$62/hr median · $46–$87 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Janitorial and Cleaning (estimated)$41/hr median · $32–$53 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Landscaping and Grounds (estimated)$48/hr median · $41–$57 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Roofing (estimated)$60/hr median · $45–$73 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
Carpentry (estimated)$66/hr median · $56–$87 range
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor/ETA), from BLS OEWS metropolitan area wage estimates, using a documented service multiplier.
What's different in Houston
- Labour market: Texas is a right-to-work state with comparatively low union density in the trades; Houston's energy-sector economy also competes for skilled trades labor, which can pull wages up for some trades relative to Dallas.
- Climate and seasonality: Hot, humid climate drives sustained HVAC demand; hurricane and heavy-rain flooding exposure (as in Hurricane Harvey, 2017) can spike emergency plumbing, electrical, and roofing work sharply.
- Code and licensing: Texas has no single statewide contractor license for most trades (electrical excepted); licensing and permitting are municipal, and the Houston metro spans multiple separate permitting authorities.
Frequently asked questions
- What do commercial trade rates cost in Houston?
- Across the 8 trades tracked here, the median commercial hourly rate in Houston runs around $64/hr, though it varies significantly by trade: see the table above for each one.
- Is this a real measured rate, or an estimate?
- Every rate on this page is currently an estimate: each trade's Houston wage, multiplied by a documented service multiplier that converts an employee wage into a billed commercial rate. It is not drawn from actual invoices or job records. The full model is on the methodology page.
- Why a range instead of a single number?
- A single average hides the real spread: in the underlying wage data for estimated trades, and between emergency/scheduled and contract/ad-hoc work for measured ones. We show low, median, and high so the range reflects that honestly.
- Is this a residential or commercial rate?
- Commercial. These figures track facility-side trade work for businesses, property managers, and multi-site operators in Houston. Commercial rates typically run above residential rates for the same trade, reflecting insurance, code compliance, and scheduling requirements that residential work doesn't carry.
- What's driving trade rates in Houston specifically?
- Texas is a right-to-work state with comparatively low union density in the trades; Houston's energy-sector economy also competes for skilled trades labor, which can pull wages up for some trades relative to Dallas.
Methodology
These figures are built from regional wage data multiplied by a documented service multiplier, or, where enough real job records exist, measured directly from vendor work logged in Evalystar. See the full model, sources, and what upgrades an estimate to a measured rate on the methodology page.
Nearby cities
Cite this data
These Houston benchmarks are published under CC BY 4.0: reuse them anywhere, including commercially, as long as you attribute Evalystar. The machine-readable version is at /api/rates/us/houston.json.
Evalystar (2025). Commercial facility trade rate benchmarks, Houston. Retrieved from https://evalystar.com/rates/us/houston. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.