Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $72K, rent takes 28.9% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,415/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers typically earn — is $40K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,374/month. At HUD’s $1,415/month FMR, rent would take 60% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $72K locally vs. $69K nationally, a 4% difference.

Texas pays $72K median vs. the U.S. average of $69K — that’s +4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 91.49), the purchasing-power equivalent is $78K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $71,580 a year, that works out to about $34 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $39,570, and experienced railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers can clear $71,860. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $4,895/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,415/month, which eats 28.9% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Texas has a Regional Price Parity of 91.49 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median railroad brake, signal, and switch operators and locomotive firers salary is worth about $78,238 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.