How Much Does a Judge Make in Texas: Pay by Court Level and Experience

How much a judge makes in Texas depends on the court. A state district judge starts at $175,000 and reaches $210,000 after eight years. Justices on the Supreme Court of Texas and judges on the Court of Criminal Appeals start at $210,000 and can top $264,000 with longevity pay. County court at law, probate, justice of the peace, and municipal judges are paid locally, so their numbers swing by county and city.

Pay by Court Level

Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals

These are the highest-paying judicial posts in the state. The base state salary is $210,000, set at 120% of a district judge’s base under Texas Government Code Section 659.012.¹ From there, pay climbs with time on the bench:

0–4 years: $210,000
4–8 years: $231,000
8+ years: $252,000
12+ years: $252,000 plus $12,600 in longevity pay, for $264,600

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals each receive an extra $14,700.² Pay comes entirely from the state, so it does not vary by where the justice lives.

Courts of Appeals

Justices on the first through fourteenth Courts of Appeals earn a $192,500 base, which is 110% of the district judge base.¹ Counties may add up to $12,500 in supplement, pushing the starting total to $205,000. With service tiers and longevity pay, the maximum reaches $255,050. A chief justice earns an additional $13,475.²

The newer Fifteenth Court of Appeals works on its own scale. Its justices start at $205,000 with no county supplement and can reach $258,300 after 12 years, and the chief justice gets an extra $14,350.²

District Judges

District judges handle felony cases, divorces, civil disputes over $200, and land-title questions. Their state base is $175,000, rising to $210,000 after eight years.² Counties may add up to $25,000 in supplement, and a veteran district judge collecting the full supplement plus longevity pay can earn up to $245,500 from all sources combined. State law caps a district judge’s combined state and county salary at $5,000 below the top combined salary for a court of appeals justice, so trial judges cannot out-earn the appellate judges who review their work.¹

Statutory Probate Judges

Statutory probate courts sit in a handful of large Texas counties and hear estate disputes, guardianships, and mental health commitments. The minimum salary equals the full compensation of a district judge with comparable service in the same county, with no reduction. The ceiling is $1,000 below the top total a district judge can earn, which comes to $244,500 for the 2025–26 biennium.²

County Court at Law Judges

Statutory county courts handle misdemeanors, smaller civil cases, and appeals from justice courts. These judges are paid from county funds, but the state sets a floor. Under Section 25.0005, a county court at law judge must earn at least $1,000 less than the total compensation a district judge with comparable service receives in the same county, including whatever supplements the district judge actually gets.³ In practice, that produces minimums from about $200,000 for a new judge in a county paying the full district supplement up to roughly $244,500 for a veteran in that same county. Commissioners courts can pay more but not less.²

Justices of the Peace and Municipal Judges

Justices of the peace handle small claims, evictions, traffic cases, and minor criminal matters. County commissioners set their pay, with no state minimum beyond the constitutional requirement of compensation. Reported salaries run from under $90,000 in smaller counties to over $150,000 in large urban counties such as Dallas and Travis.

Municipal judges are paid by the city they serve, under rates set by city council or charter. Their pay cannot be tied to the fines or fees the court collects.⁴ Many of these positions are part-time. Full-time municipal judges in mid-size and large cities generally earn between $70,000 and $170,000.

How Experience Raises the Number

Two mechanisms boost pay over a judge’s career. The first is built into the salary structure. After four years of combined judicial or prosecutorial service, state salary rises to 110% of the base for that position; after eight years, it rises to 120%.¹ For a district judge, that means $175,000 at the start, $192,500 at four years, and $210,000 at eight.

The second kicks in at 12 years. Under Section 659.0445, judges with 12 years of credited service in the state retirement system receive longevity pay equal to 5% of their monthly state salary.⁵ That adds $10,500 a year for a district judge already at $210,000, and $12,600 for a Supreme Court justice at $252,000. Years spent as a district attorney or criminal district attorney count toward these thresholds, so someone who prosecuted for a decade before taking the bench accrues service credit from day one.

Why Two Judges in the Same Job Earn Different Amounts

County supplements explain most of the gap between judges holding the same title. Appellate justices (outside the Fifteenth Court) can collect up to $12,500 from their county; district judges can collect up to $25,000. A county is not required to pay the maximum, and some pay nothing. Because the county court at law minimum is pegged to what the local district judge actually earns, a rural county that skips the district supplement also lowers the floor for its county court at law judge.

Rank adds a smaller layer. Chief justices on appellate courts receive four- and five-figure bumps on top of the standard rate, and district judges who serve as the local administrative judge for their region collect a separate supplement that scales with the number of courts they oversee.²

What Judges Cannot Earn on the Side

A Texas judge’s state or local salary is, for most practical purposes, their income. The Texas Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits active full-time judges from practicing law, with narrow exceptions for personal matters and unpaid advice to family. Judges also cannot serve as paid arbitrators or mediators outside the judicial system.⁶

Teaching, writing, and managing personal investments are allowed when the source of payment does not create an appearance of influencing judicial duties, and compensation must be reasonable and comparable to what a non-judge would receive. Judges can hold and manage investments, including real estate and private businesses, but cannot serve as an officer or director of a publicly owned business with more than ten unrelated owners.⁶

Retirement

Texas state judges participate in the Judicial Retirement System Plan 2, a defined-benefit pension administered by the Employees Retirement System of Texas. Payout depends on years of service and salary rather than investment returns, and eligibility rules differ for judges who took office on or before August 31, 2024, and those who took office on or after September 1, 2024.⁷ Texas judges also pay into Social Security through their state employment, so retirement income typically combines the pension with Social Security benefits.⁸

1
State of Texas. Texas Government Code Section 659.012 – Judicial Salaries
2
Texas Judicial Branch. Judicial Salaries Effective September 2025
3
Texas Public Law. Texas Government Code Section 25.0005 – Judges Salary
4
City of Sherman, TX. City of Sherman Code of Ordinances – Division 2 Municipal Judges – Section 7.04.032 Salary
5
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 659.0445 – Longevity Pay for State Judges and Justices
6
Texas Judicial Branch. Texas Code of Judicial Conduct
7
Employees Retirement System of Texas. JRS Plan 2
8
Social Security Administration. Introduction to State and Local Coverage