The local economy of Texas and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data.
Unemployment rate
4.4%
August 2026, 4.2% a year ago
Average weekly pay
$1,646
Q1 2026, 14,124,564 jobs
New homes permitted
194,150
Last 12 months to August 2026
Net people moving in
+111,404
2022 to 2023
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for its history.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Texas, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Texas is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row.
The unemployment rate in Texas was 4.4% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.2% a year earlier. 15,225,115 people were employed out of a labor force of 15,932,639. Among its counties, Loving County had the lowest rate (0.7%) and Starr County the highest (9.4%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Texas was $1,646 in Q1 2026, up 3.8% from a year earlier, across 14,124,564 jobs at 868,766 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 14,789 new homes in Texas in August 2026 (10,652 single-family and 3,487 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 131,692, down 9.7% from the same months last year, and 194,150 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Harris County (28,922), Collin County (15,804), Tarrant County (15,352) over the last 12 months.
Yes. From 2022 to 2023, 568,302 people moved to Texas and 456,898 moved away, a net gain of 111,404 (+4.8 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from California, Florida, Louisiana, and most people who left went to California, Florida, Colorado.
Regular gasoline in Texas averaged $3.84 per gallon in the week of September 28, 2026.