Best Nuclear Technician programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment
Assist nuclear physicists, nuclear engineers, or other scientists in laboratory, power generation, or electricity production activities. May operate, maintain, or provide quality control for nuclear testing and research equipment.
1 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 20 people a year. The job pays a median of $124,060 in Texas across about 110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
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.
2 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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology/Technicianmain feeder CIP 41.0205In Texas → | 13 | 65.0% | 1 | $42,232 | $9,812 |
| 2 | Industrial Radiologic Technology/Technicianmain feeder CIP 41.0204In Texas → | 7 | 35.0% | 1 | $42,232 | $9,812 |
Top 1 schools in Texas
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wharton County Junior College Wharton, TX Public · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology/Technician | — | 27% | — | — |
All 1 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wharton County Junior College | Wharton | Public | 20 | 2 |
What nuclear technicians earn in Texas
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $110,240. Texas pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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 Nuclear Technicians page.
How to become a Nuclear Technician
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
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 5 majors mapped to Nuclear Technicians5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.1401Nuclear Engineering Technology/Technician
- 41.0204Industrial Radiologic Technology/Technician
- 41.0205Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology/Technician
- 41.0299Nuclear and Industrial Radiologic Technologies/Technicians, Other
- 51.0916Radiation Protection/Health Physics Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing nuclear technicians programs in Texas.
What degree do you need to become a Nuclear Technician?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Nuclear/Nuclear Power Technology/Technician, which awarded 13 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 65.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Nuclear Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Nuclear and Industrial Radiologic Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 20 people a year in Texas.
How much do nuclear technicians earn in Texas?+
The median is $124,060 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.5% above the U.S. median of $110,240. 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 nuclear technicians growing?+
BLS projects a -7.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Texas?+
1 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 nuclear technicians work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Operations Technician, Radiochemical Technician, Licensed Nuclear Operator, Nuclear Auxiliary Operator, Nuclear Equipment Operator (NEO), Health Physics Technician (HP Tech) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-4051.
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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, 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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