Texas·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-1075

Best Labor Relations Specialist programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

Resolve disputes between workers and managers, negotiate collective bargaining agreements, or coordinate grievance procedures to handle employee.

26 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 685 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,640 in Texas across about 2,590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBusiness AgentLabor SpecialistBusiness RepresentativeLabor Relations SpecialistConciliatorUnion StewardLabor MediatorLabor Organizer
Graduates / yr
685
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$79,640
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,590
people employed
Schools
26
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
46%
across those schools
Median net price
$21,247
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Texas page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1001In Texas
685
100.0%
26$49,084$26,536

Top 25 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 10 of the 26 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Tarleton State University
Stephenville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
88Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$38,62248%90%
2Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
69Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General34%
3Collin County Community College District
McKinney, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
63Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General20%
4Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
48Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$51,66484%57%
5University of Houston - Downtown
Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
41Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General33%90%
6Dallas College
Dallas, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
39Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General32%
7Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
39Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$50,40349%96%
8Lamar University
Beaumont, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
36Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General37%86%
9Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
36Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$43,75055%90%
10The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
33Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$51,73276%65%
11South Texas College
McAllen, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
28Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General27%
12Texas A&M University - Central Texas
Killeen, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
26Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$41,378100%
13The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
19Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General54%80%
14Baylor University
Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
18Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$62,56280%$35,68251%
15The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Edinburg, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
14Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General51%94%
16University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$58,49951%$21,74598%
17Strayer University - Texas
Farmers Branch, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
13Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General25%$17,518
18Houston Christian University
Houston, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
12Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General49%$21,24784%
19Trinity University
San Antonio, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General84%$20,32726%
20The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
10Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$56,96153%87%
21Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
10Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General19%$20,75456%
22Stephen F Austin State University
Nacogdoches, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
7Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$45,51653%94%
23Amberton University
Garland, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
24Texas A&M University - Kingsville
Kingsville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
3Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General42%91%
25South University - Austin
Round Rock, TX Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General0%$24,023

All 26 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Tarleton State UniversityStephenvillePublic881
Tarrant County College DistrictFort WorthPublic691
Collin County Community College DistrictMcKinneyPublic631
Texas A&M University - College StationCollege StationPublic481
University of Houston - DowntownHoustonPublic411
Dallas CollegeDallasPublic391
Texas Woman's UniversityDentonPublic391
Lamar UniversityBeaumontPublic361
Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsvillePublic361
The University of Texas at DallasRichardsonPublic331
South Texas CollegeMcAllenPublic281
Texas A&M University - Central TexasKilleenPublic261
The University of Texas at ArlingtonArlingtonPublic191
Baylor UniversityWacoPrivate not-for-profit181
The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburgPublic141

What labor relations specialists earn in Texas

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Texas
$79,640
Mean annual
$85,200
Jobs in state
2,590
What the range looks like
10th pct$42,040Median$79,64090th pct$135,340
Versus the national median
-16.5%

U.S. median $95,420. Texas pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.44×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Texas

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$95,550median
930 jobs
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$85,090median
470 jobs
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$81,340median
220 jobs
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
$70,770median
460 jobs
El Paso, TX
$69,830median
50 jobs
Lubbock, TX
$68,210median
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-0.1%
Little or no change
Openings per year
5,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-100
65,400 → 65,400
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Labor Relations Specialists page.

How to become a Labor Relations Specialist

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Texas

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Labor Relations Specialists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 30.2801Dispute Resolution
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1002Labor and Industrial Relations
  • 52.1004Labor Studies

Common questions

Answers for people weighing labor relations specialists programs in Texas.

What degree do you need to become a Labor Relations Specialist?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General, which awarded 685 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Labor Relations Specialist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Human Resources Management and Services. Together they graduate about 685 people a year in Texas.

How much do labor relations specialists earn in Texas?+

The median is $79,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.5% below the U.S. median of $95,420. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for labor relations specialists growing?+

BLS projects a -0.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+

26 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do labor relations specialists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Business Agent, Labor Specialist, Business Representative, Labor Relations Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1075.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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