Manufacturing · Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Dallas-Fort Worth factory payrolls were flat over the year to September 2026 even as Texas manufacturers reported faster hiring, so thin DFW pools such as machinists and CNC operators are where searches stall first. As a national agency organized by industry, Careerscape puts DFW roles with remote recruiters who work only in manufacturing.
The 2026 picture
DFW had 313.2 thousand manufacturing jobs in September 2026, unchanged from a year earlier, according to preliminary BLS payroll data for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro. That flat line hides a busier factory floor. In the Dallas Fed's Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey for September, a statewide survey, the employment index rose to 15.1 from 8.0 and the wages and benefits index rose to 27.4. More Texas manufacturers were adding people and paying more to get them.
For a DFW hiring manager, that combination means the pool is not growing while more employers are fishing in it. The roles that were already thin here (machinists, CNC operators, mechanical engineers) are where searches stall first.
DFW is also a different kind of market from Detroit or Houston. Most occupations in the BLS table sit close to the national share of jobs. There is no single dominant trade, which helps for broad production hiring and hurts when you need a specialist. For the metro's wider labor market and Texas hiring rules, see our Dallas staffing page.
BLS by occupation
BLS estimates for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro, May 2025, all employers. Location quotient (LQ) above 1 means a role is more concentrated here than nationally.
| Occupation | Jobs in metro | Median pay · vs. U.S. | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Production Managers | 5,890 | $132,990+5% | 0.92 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers | 16,880 | $69,940−6% | 0.96 |
| Industrial Engineers | 10,680 | $105,640+3% | 1.12 |
| Mechanical Engineers | 5,600 | $105,420+1% | 0.73 |
| Industrial Machinery Mechanics | 12,730 | $63,380−2% | 1.11 |
| Machinists | 4,660 | $59,830+2% | 0.62 |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers | 16,440 | $46,210−5% | 1.06 |
| Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers | 10,620 | $51,630−4% | 0.98 |
| Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators | 3,150 | $47,990−5% | 0.71 |
| Logisticians | 7,050 | $76,510−7% | 1.08 |
| Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians | 1,270 | $62,010−6% | 0.65 |
Industrial engineers (10,680 jobs, LQ 1.12) and industrial machinery mechanics (12,730, LQ 1.11) are DFW's deeper engineering and maintenance pools. Machinists (LQ 0.62), industrial engineering technicians (0.65), CNC tool operators (0.71) and mechanical engineers (0.73) are thin. Pay splits by level: industrial production managers earn a $132,990 median, about 5.5% above the U.S., while production supervisors ($69,940), inspectors ($46,210) and logisticians ($76,510) all sit 5% to 7% below the U.S. medians. Jobs and median annual pay for the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX metro area, all employers, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). “Vs. U.S.” compares with the national median. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: above 1.0 means the job makes up a bigger share of local employment than it does nationally.
Who builds here
Market context only: a few of the large manufacturers whose hiring shapes what DFW candidates expect.
Texas Instruments' RFAB opened in Richardson in 2009 as the first 300mm analog wafer fab, and a second connected fab began production in 2022. TI's newest fab in Sherman, north of the metro, is in production and construction of a second Sherman fab is complete, so equipment and process technicians have options in both places.
GM's Arlington Assembly has built vehicles since 1954 and today builds the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade. It is a UAW plant (Local 276), which shapes pay and benefit expectations for assembly and maintenance workers nearby.
Defense and aerospace programs bring U.S. citizenship and security clearance requirements into many DFW engineering and quality searches. Careerscape recruits cleared professionals for federal contractors.
Fabricators, machine shops and contract manufacturers compete with these employers for the same machinists and maintenance techs, often without the same pay scale. For them, a precise job spec and a fast decision matter more than a bigger ad.
Texas specifics
Texas does not license most production jobs, but electrical work is the exception worth knowing.
| Item | Issued by | Why it matters for a DFW hire |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance Electrician license | Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) | Anyone doing non-exempt electrical work in Texas must be licensed. Ask whether your maintenance work is exempt before you write the job post. |
| Journeyman Industrial Electrician license | TDLR | A separate license class for industrial electrical work; check which class your plant's work requires. |
| Apprentice Electrician registration | TDLR | Lets you hire and train electrical apprentices under licensed supervision. |
TDLR also requires non-exempt electrical work to be performed through a licensed electrical contractor. Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Electricians.
How a search runs
What working with Careerscape looks like for a Dallas or Fort Worth manufacturing role.
We start with the shift, equipment, certifications and the DFW pay data, so the offer range matches the metro rather than a national average.
DFW is wide. We map candidates by drive time to your site, including people working in Sherman, Arlington or Fort Worth who may want a shorter commute.
Candidates are screened for skills, shift fit and pay expectations. You receive a short list, not a stack of resumes.
Request interviews, leave feedback and track every candidate in a private portal shared with your hiring team.
Direct hire for permanent seats, contract or contract-to-hire for a trial or a project, and temporary staffing for peaks.
Roles we fill
Plant-floor, engineering and leadership roles for employers across Dallas, Fort Worth and the suburbs.
Request talent
Share the role, the site and your timing, and a manufacturing recruiter will follow up.
Looking for a job instead? Submit your resume or browse open jobs.
FAQ
Harder than in most of our markets. In May 2025 BLS counted 4,660 machinists in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro, a location quotient of 0.62, so they are far less concentrated than nationally. CNC tool operators are thin too (0.71). The machinist median, $59,830, is close to the U.S. figure, so the issue is supply more than pay. See the CNC machinist salary guide for national ranges.
Only for some work. TDLR says anyone who performs non-exempt electrical work in Texas must be licensed and work through a licensed electrical contractor, and it issues Maintenance Electrician and Journeyman Industrial Electrician licenses. Whether your plant's maintenance work is exempt is a question for TDLR or counsel. If it is not, put the license in the job requirements.
One source is Texas State Technical College's North Texas campus in Red Oak, south of Dallas, whose HVAC, Precision Machining and Welding students competed at the 2026 SkillsUSA Texas event. Expect graduates to need training on your equipment and shifts. For experienced machinists, who are thin across DFW, a direct approach to people already in the trade usually works faster than a job post.
It is lower. The May 2025 BLS median for first-line production supervisors in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro was $69,940, about 6% below the U.S. median of $74,450. Plant leadership is the reverse: industrial production managers earned $132,990, above the U.S. figure. If you are recruiting a supervisor from another market, expect to explain the gap.
All of DFW. BLS treats Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington as one metro, and our manufacturing recruiters work remotely for employers anywhere in it. There is no Careerscape office in DFW. Searches are organized by industry, so the recruiter on your role works in manufacturing every day, whether the site is in Richardson, Arlington or west Fort Worth.
Tell us what the role needs and we will match the offer to DFW pay before the search starts.
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