Services indexed
8
Hourly range, avg
$52–$89/hr
Houston median
$71/hr
Most affordable: Painter · Premium: Accountant
Houston indexes 8 services across 3 categories, with hourly rates spanning $32/hr (Painter) to $161/hr (Accountant). The city median of $71/hr runs 17% below the national average across all indexed cities. Home Repair & Maintenance is the largest service block here (4 of 8 services).
Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 wage data adjusted for Houston cost of living. Read the methodology.
Houston electrician rates $65-$115/hr (avg $90). Neighborhood breakdown, City of Houston PWE permits, and how generators + post-Harvey codes shift pricing.
Read articleHouston handyman rates $50-$95/hr (avg $70). Neighborhood breakdown, hurricane-season pricing, and when a TDLR specialist is required by law.
Read articleHouston HVAC rates run $39-$65/hr (avg $52). Neighborhood breakdown, TDLR licensing, CenterPoint rebates, and how Gulf Coast humidity changes pricing.
Read articleHouston plumber rates run $44-$73/hr (avg $59). Neighborhood breakdown, TSBPE licensing, PWE permits, and how slab leaks and hurricane prep change pricing.
Read articleHouston GC rates $58-$97/hr (avg $77). Neighborhood breakdown, no-zoning quirks, hurricane-code costs, and post-Harvey rebuild realities.
Read articleHouston painter rates $32-$53/hr (avg $42). River Oaks vs Heights vs Sugar Land, EPA RRP lead rules, Gulf-coast UV impact on exterior paint cycles.
Read articleHouston roofer rates run $34-$56/hr (avg $45). Neighborhood breakdown, City of Houston PWE permits, hurricane/hail cycle pricing, storm-chaser checks.
Read articleAcross the 8 home and professional services we index in Houston, the median consumer rate is $71/hr. Hourly rates span $52/hr at the affordable end to $89/hr at the premium end, depending on service type and contractor.
Accountant carries the highest typical rate in Houston at $96.75–$161.25/hr. Premium professional and licensed services consistently command the highest rates across our index.
Painter sits at the lower end of the Houston index at $32–$53/hr. Routine maintenance and cleaning categories typically cluster at the bottom of any city's price spread.
Houston is 17% below the national average of $86/hr across our 49-city corpus. Local wage data and cost of living drive most of this difference — see the geographic precision note for the underlying data.
Home Repair & Maintenance has the most indexed services in Houston (4 guides), reflecting both local demand and the breadth of BLS wage data available for that segment.
Consumer-facing rates. We apply industry-standard 1.5–2.5× multipliers to BLS hourly wages to account for business overhead, insurance, licensing, employer costs, and profit margin. The full calculation is documented in the methodology.
Pricing reflects the BLS OEWS May 2024 release. The next refresh lands when May 2025 data is published in April 2026. Cadence is documented in the update schedule.
Data: BLS OEWS May 2024 · Methodology · Last refreshed January 2026