Compared with the local labor market
Motor Vehicle Technician III pay vs. Texas
Across all employers in Texas, the median wage for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics — about 69,750 people — is $48,310. Department of Public Safety pays a median base salary of $55,500 for this role, 15% above that figure — about the 63rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Department of Public Safety sits in the local pay range
$29,360
$36,650
$48,310
$62,270
$81,720
Department of Public Safety median · $55,500
The bar is the range of annual wages for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics across every employer in Texas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Public Safety’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics — about 704,640 people — is $50,620. Department of Public Safety’s median base salary is 10% above that national figure, about the 56th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$34,660
$38,900
$50,620
$70,430
$81,790
Department of Public Safety median · $55,500
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Texas range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Public Safety is $55,500, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
This role across Texas
Motor Vehicle Technician III is held in 3 Texas departments. In Department of Public Safety, the median of $49,350 ranks #3 of 3.
Highest-paying departments for this role
Median total compensation for the Motor Vehicle Technician III role in other Texasdepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.