What does it cost to hire a labor relations specialist in San Antonio?

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 $81,340 median wage in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $16,268 to $24,402 on the first year salary alone.

What should an offer for a labor relations specialist in San Antonio look like?

Employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area pay labor relations specialists a median of $81,340, with the middle half of the market between $63,990 and $97,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $63,990 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.

Is the talent for this role already in San Antonio?

This is a job zone 4 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 28.7% of San Antonio 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 a labor relations specialist in San Antonio, TX

Employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area pay labor relations specialists a median of $81,340 a year, with the middle half of the market between $63,990 and $97,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 13-1075). 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 San Antonio residents in business and financial operations work earn more than employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area pay?

San Antonio residents working in business and financial operations occupations earn a median of $62,600 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $75,000 as the median of the 25 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 17%, with the employers figure the higher of the two.

Both sides of that figure describe the whole business and financial operations group, not this one role. In the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area the group covers 25 occupations BLS publishes a wage for, from credit counselors at $48,890 to financial risk specialists at $103,990 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with labor relations specialists at $81,340 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 25 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.

Published wages across this group in the metro run above what San Antonio residents in it earn, which usually means employers here draw this talent from beyond the city line rather than from inside it.

What does a labor relations specialist earn here?

Place of work

What employers pay

Annual wages paid to labor relations specialists by employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area. BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 13-1075.
25th percentile	$63,990
Median	$81,340
75th percentile	$97,430

Half of labor relations specialists in this area earn between $63,990 and $97,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $63,990 competes for the bottom quarter of the market. Occupation detail for SOC 13-1075 at O*NET OnLine.

Place of residence

What San Antonio residents earn

$62,600

Median annual earnings of San Antonio residents working in business and financial operations occupations, 37,004 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

Negotiate collective bargaining agreements.
Investigate and evaluate union complaints or arguments to determine viability.
Propose resolutions for collective bargaining or other labor or contract negotiations.
Draft contract proposals or counter-proposals for collective bargaining or other labor negotiations.
Interpret contractual agreements for employers and employees engaged in collective bargaining or other labor relations processes.

Task statements for SOC 13-1075, O*NET OnLine 29.1.

Tools and technologies in demand

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Oracle HRIS, Kubernetes, Microsoft Access.

Flagged in demand or hot for SOC 13-1075 by O*NET OnLine 29.1. Useful as a screen, not as a checklist.

Is the talent actually in San Antonio?

This is a job zone four: considerable preparation needed occupation. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. O*NET OnLine, SOC 13-1075.

That matters here, because 28.7% of San Antonio 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 San Antonio aged 25 and over.

The average San Antonio commute runs 24.6 minutes, which is roughly how far your catchment reaches before candidates start saying no. 11.8% of San Antonio 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 San Antonio.

How often do these jobs turn over?

In Bexar County, accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services employs 5,616 and turns over 12.5% a quarter, with 1,012 hires against 661 separations. Average earnings in that industry run $6,150 a month. Census LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators, 2024 Q1, NAICS 5412.

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 labor relations specialists. It still tells you what you are hiring into: a high-churn market, where speed matters more than a perfect fit.

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 $81,340 median in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would bill roughly $16,268 to $24,402 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 a labor relations specialist in San Antonio

What does it cost to hire a labor relations specialist in San Antonio?: 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 $81,340 median wage in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025) would charge roughly $16,268 to $24,402 on the first year salary alone.
What should an offer for a labor relations specialist in San Antonio look like?: Employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area pay labor relations specialists a median of $81,340, with the middle half of the market between $63,990 and $97,430 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A band set below $63,990 competes for the bottom quarter of that market.
Do San Antonio residents in business and financial operations work earn more than employers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area pay?: San Antonio residents working in business and financial operations occupations earn a median of $62,600 (Census ACS 5-year 2023, tables S2401 and B24011), against $75,000 as the median of the 25 wages BLS publishes for that same occupation group in the San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX area (BLS OEWS, May 2025), a difference of 17%. 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 San Antonio?: This is a job zone 4 occupation, which usually calls for a bachelor's degree, and 28.7% of San Antonio 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 a labor relations specialist somewhere else?

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

Other business and financial operations roles in San Antonio

San Antonio is the 2nd largest of 17 Texas cities in this dataset.