What does it cost to hire an administrative law judge in Houston?

Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $124,400 median wage in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $24,880 to $37,320 on the first year salary alone.

What should an offer for an administrative law judge in Houston look like?

Employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area pay administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers a median of $124,400, with the middle half of the market between $92,550 and $145,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $92,550 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.

Is the talent for this role already in Houston?

This is a job zone 5 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 36% of Houston adults hold one or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501). That is a workable pool, though the search will reach beyond the city line.

Hiring an administrative law judge in Houston, TX

Employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area pay administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers a median of $124,400 a year, with the middle half of the market between $92,550 and $145,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 23-1021). Filling it through recruitlocalpros runs Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role rather than by salary or location, and our vetted recruiting partner handles sourcing, screening and placement end to end.

Do Houston residents in legal work earn more than employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area pay?

Houston residents working in legal occupations earn a median of $119,277 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $93,935 as the median of the 6 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 27%, with the residents figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole legal group, not this one role. In the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area the group covers 6 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators at $57,500 to lawyers at $157,980 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers at $124,400 inside it.

That comparison is between two different measures, not a pay gap. The two weight the same occupation group differently: the Census figure is the midpoint across the people who actually hold those jobs, so a group carrying a few very well paid occupations is pulled toward them, while the BLS figure is the midpoint across the 6 published occupation wages, which counts each of those occupations once whatever its headcount. Census also counts where people live and BLS counts where the jobs are, and the two cover different populations, Census the civilian employed population 16 and over, BLS wage-and-salary jobs only. Read the number against other cities, where the same definitional difference applies on both sides, rather than as a shortfall.

Residents here out-earn the midpoint of what the metro pays across this group, which usually points to people commuting out to better-paying employers. Expect a Houston offer in this field to compete with a drive, not only with the firm down the road.

What does an administrative law judge earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers by employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 23-1021.
25th percentile	$92,550
Median	$124,400
75th percentile	$145,830

Half of administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers in this area earn between $92,550 and $145,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $92,550 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 23-1021 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What Houston residents earn

$119,277

Median annual earnings of Houston residents working in legal occupations, 20,259 people (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011). An occupation group rather than this one role, and where people live rather than where they work, so it is not the same measurement as the wages beside it.

What does the role actually involve?

Core tasks

Determine existence and amount of liability according to current laws, administrative and judicial precedents, and available evidence.
Monitor and direct the activities of trials and hearings to ensure that they are conducted fairly and that courts administer justice while safeguarding the legal rights of all involved parties.
Prepare written opinions and decisions.
Authorize payment of valid claims and determine method of payment.
Conduct hearings to review and decide claims regarding issues, such as social program eligibility, environmental protection, or enforcement of health and safety regulations.

Task statements for SOC 23-1021, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 23-1021 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in Houston?

This is a job zone five: extensive preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree). O*NET OnLine, SOC 23-1021.

That matters here, because 36% of Houston adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. That is a workable pool, but the search will reach beyond the city line. Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501, residents of Houston aged 25 and over.

The average Houston commute runs 27.3 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 11.7% of Houston workers already work from home, so a fully onsite requirement here is competing against that. Census ACS 5-year 2023, place-level commuting characteristics for Houston.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Harris County, legal services employs 29,852 and turns over 6.6% a quarter, with 2,855 hires against 2,567 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $11,717 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5411.

That figure covers every occupation in the industry, not this role alone, so read it as the local churn rate rather than as a number about administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a low-churn market, where people do not move often and passive candidates are the whole game.

What does the search cost?

The fee is set by the seniority of the role, never by salary and never by location. Across all six tiers it runs $6,240 to $54,340 per search. A contingency firm hiring at this role's $124,400 median in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $24,880 to $37,320 on the first year salary alone.

One owner runs the search from market map to signed offer. Searches typically fill in 23 to 35 days, which is a typical window rather than a promise, and the replacement guarantee runs 45 days at 50% off.

Questions employers ask about hiring an administrative law judge in Houston

What does it cost to hire an administrative law judge in Houston?: Tier I to Tier VI, $6,240 to $54,340 per search, set by the seniority of the role and never by salary or location. A contingency firm billing 20 to 30% of this role's $124,400 median wage in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $24,880 to $37,320 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for an administrative law judge in Houston look like?: Employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area pay administrative law judges, adjudicators, and hearing officers a median of $124,400, with the middle half of the market between $92,550 and $145,830 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $92,550 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do Houston residents in legal work earn more than employers in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area pay?: Houston residents working in legal occupations earn a median of $119,277 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $93,935 as the median of the 6 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 27%. Both figures cover the whole occupation group rather than this one role, and one counts where people live while the other counts where the jobs are, so the percentage is not a pay gap.
Is the talent for this role already in Houston?: This is a job zone 5 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 36% of Houston adults hold one or higher (Census ACS 5-year 2023, table S1501). That is a workable pool, though the search will reach beyond the city line.

Price this search

Eight questions about the role. Your tier range appears on screen.

Hiring an administrative law judge somewhere else?

Same role, different market. The wage band moves with the metro.

Other legal roles in Houston

Houston is the largest of 17 Texas cities in this dataset.