Texas pay transparency law: no state rule, and cities cannot add one

Texas has no statewide pay transparency law for private employers, as of October 2026: nothing in Texas law requires a salary range in a job posting, a range on request, or a range after an interview. The Texas Workforce Commission's employer guidebook puts it plainly: "No specific law obligates private employers to post jobs in any particular way." Texas cities cannot fill the gap, because Labor Code section 1.005 has voided local rules on hiring practices since September 1, 2023. A Texas posting still picks up other states' rules when the job can be done from, or reports into, a state that has one.

Does Texas require salary ranges in job postings?

No. Texas has no statute like Colorado's, New York's or Washington's that makes a range part of the ad, and no rule like Nevada's that owes the range after an interview. The Texas Workforce Commission's Texas Guidebook for Employers says that "No specific law obligates private employers to post jobs in any particular way," and its advice on postings is about discrimination risk, not pay disclosure. The same page notes that personnel search firms "are covered by the same anti-discrimination laws that apply to their clients," which matters for agencies writing a client's ad.

Texas also has no salary history ban, so a Texas employer may lawfully ask what a candidate earns today. Our Texas salary history page explains why that question is still risky under federal equal pay law, and what to ask instead.

Can a Texas city require pay ranges?

Not for private employers. House Bill 2127 of 2023 added Labor Code section 1.005, effective September 1, 2023. It says a municipality or county "may not adopt, enforce, or maintain an ordinance, order, or rule regulating conduct in a field of regulation that is occupied by a provision of this code," and that the occupied field "includes employment leave, hiring practices, breaks, employment benefits, scheduling practices, and any other terms of employment that exceed or conflict with federal or state law for employers other than a municipality or county."

A city ordinance that tells private employers what to put in a job ad is a rule about hiring practices, so it would fall inside that field. The Texas Workforce Commission reads the section the same way for a close cousin: its background check page says section 1.005 "essentially nullified" local ban-the-box ordinances such as Austin's. The last clause of section 1.005 cuts the other way for public jobs: a city or county can still decide how it advertises its own positions.

That is the main difference between Texas and Ohio, where Cleveland and Columbus wrote their own posting rules; see the Ohio pay transparency guide for how a city-level rule works.

Is a Texas pay transparency bill coming?

Not before 2027. The Texas Legislature meets in regular session every other year. The Legislative Reference Library's session calendar shows the 89th regular session ran from January 14 to June 2, 2025, followed by two called sessions that ended September 4, 2025, and the 90th regular session convening January 12, 2027.

In the 2025 regular session, the Texas Legislature Online subject index for wage bills lists no bill that would have required pay ranges in postings. The two closest bills both stayed in committee:

• House Bill 835, about compensation and wage history, was referred to the House subcommittee on Workforce on March 5, 2025 and went no further.
• House Bill 2111, which would have created a Texas Pay Equity Task Force, was referred to the State Affairs committee on March 14, 2025 and went no further.

Watch bill filing for the 90th Legislature if you want early warning; the new Texas hiring laws for 2027 page tracks what did pass.

Which other states' laws reach a Texas job posting?

This is where Texas employers most often get caught. Pay transparency statutes generally follow where the work is done or where the role reports, not where the employer is based. Two examples, both from the statute text:

• New York covers a job "that will physically be performed, at least in part, in the state of New York," including one "performed outside of New York but reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in New York" (Labor Law § 194-b). A Dallas-based remote analyst whose manager sits in Manhattan is covered.
• Washington defines a posting as any solicitation for a specific position, "including recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party" (RCW 49.58.110), and applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

Colorado, California, Illinois and the other posting states have their own reach rules, compared on our pay transparency for remote jobs page. A "remote, US" ad from Houston is read in all of them at once.

Do federal rules require pay ranges?

No federal statute requires a private employer to publish pay in a job ad. Three federal points still matter to Texas recruiters:

• The federal contractor pay transparency rule is gone. It barred contractors from retaliating against workers who discussed pay; it never required ranges in ads. It rested on Executive Order 11246, which Executive Order 14173 revoked on January 21, 2025, and the Department of Labor's final rule, published August 21, 2026 and effective October 26, 2026, removed the implementing regulations, including the pay transparency provisions at 41 CFR 60-1.35. See job posting requirements for federal contractors.
• Pay discussions are still protected. The National Labor Relations Board says the National Labor Relations Act lets most private-sector employees discuss wages with coworkers, and that policies barring it are unlawful.
• Equal pay still applies. The EEOC explains that the Equal Pay Act covers virtually all employers and that Title VII also prohibits pay discrimination. A posted range you can explain is easier to defend than an offer built from each candidate's last salary.

What do job boards do with pay information?

Even without a law, the boards Texas employers post on are built around pay. Indeed's employer help article says pay can be shown as a fixed amount, a range, a starting amount ("From $10 per hour") or a maximum ("Up to $15 per hour"), and is displayed in search results and job descriptions. Google's job posting structured data lists baseSalary as a recommended property, described as "the actual base salary for the job, as provided by the employer (not an estimate)."

Texas law lets you use any of those formats. If the same ad can reach Colorado or New York, though, a "From" or "Up to" figure will not meet a rule that needs both a minimum and a maximum, so a real range is the safer default. For the markup itself, see the Google for Jobs posting guide.

What should Texas recruiters and staffing agencies do?

1. Decide where the role can be filled from. On-site in Texas with no out-of-state reporting line: no range is legally required. Remote or hybrid: list the states and check each.
2. Check the reporting line. A Texas hire who reports to a New York, Illinois or Connecticut manager can trigger that state's rule.
3. Get the range at intake anyway. Agencies posting for out-of-state clients need it for those states, and candidates ask on the first call. Our staffing agency pay transparency guide covers who is liable for the range.
4. Build the range from something real: a pay band, the budget, or what current staff in the role earn. See how to set salary ranges for job postings.
5. Do not ban pay talk in handbooks or offer letters. That is an NLRA problem in every state.
6. Recheck in 2027. Any change would come from the 90th Legislature, which convenes January 12, 2027.

Texas at a glance

For the rest of the Texas hiring rulebook, see hiring employees in Texas, ban the box in Texas and staffing agency licensing in Texas. For every state that does require a range, see pay transparency laws by state.