Compared with the local labor market
Contract Specialist III pay vs. Texas
Across all employers in Texas, the median wage for Buyers and Purchasing Agents — about 44,030 people — is $76,050. Employees Retirement System pays a median base salary of $86,956 for this role, 14% above that figure — about the 63rd percentile of local pay for the occupation.
Where Employees Retirement System sits in the local pay range
$47,760
$59,470
$76,050
$97,730
$124,140
Employees Retirement System median · $86,956
The bar is the range of annual wages for Buyers and Purchasing Agents across every employer in Texas, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Employees Retirement System’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Buyers and Purchasing Agents — about 491,430 people — is $77,710. Employees Retirement System’s median base salary is 12% above that national figure, about the 60th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
$48,380
$60,800
$77,710
$100,820
$128,870
Employees Retirement System median · $86,956
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 Employees Retirement System is $86,956, 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 jurisdictions
Contract Specialist beyond Texas
This role is reported in 7 jurisdictions. In Texas, the median of $69,882 ranks #4 of 7. See Contract Specialist across all of Texas →
Highest-paying jurisdictions for this role
Median total compensation for comparable Contract Specialistroles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.