Houston Republic

Department of Agriculture paid an average compensation of $61,806 during 2021, this was more than the public employee average of $55,188, according to data compiled by The Texas Tribune.

The highest-paid public employee in Texas was Beau Michelle Le, who earned $608,850 as the chief scientific officer at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

The national median hourly wage is $19.14 according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the OECD, the average yearly wage in the US is more than $60,000.

When calculating average compensation, only employees categorized as full-time were included.

Rank	Employee	Amount Earned
1	Jason Fearneyhough	$205,000
2	Daniel Hunter	$184,500
2	Timothy Kleinschmidt	$184,500
2	Lena Harris-Wilson	$184,500
2	Terrence Keel	$184,500
2	Walter Roberts	$184,500
7	Freddy Vest	$150,000
8	Shirley Beaulieu	$145,583
9	Sidney Miller	$140,938
10	Catherine Wright-Steele	$135,722
11	Susan Maldonado	$135,600
12	Brian Murray	$135,112
13	Bruce Hermes	$135,000
13	Kelly Parker	$135,000
15	Reb Wayne	$125,000
16	Gwendolyn McDade	$120,058
17	Lisa Hoyt	$118,730
18	Zoi Kondis	$118,560
19	Mendoza Cynthia Gonzales	$117,830
20	Patricia Molina	$116,550
21	Irma Rodriguez	$114,660
22	Philip Wright	$114,048
23	Melissa Gonzales	$113,611
24	Karen Reichek	$112,530
25	Senta Fortune	$111,605
26	Dale Scott	$111,456
27	Bon Wier	$103,491
28	Ken Weidenfeller	$102,922
29	Nicole Notarianni	$102,336
30	Dudley Allen	$102,060
30	Thomas Northcutt Jr.	$102,060
30	Michael Euler	$102,060
30	Mark Bills	$102,060
34	John Tuley	$102,050
35	Charles Warren	$100,488
36	Leslie Smith	$100,395
37	David Castillo	$100,320
38	Wynne Hexamer	$100,152
39	Alfreda Maddox	$100,124
40	Bertha Serna	$99,335
41	Tanya Vermeeren	$98,316
42	Michael Clark	$97,789
43	Jaclyn Cantu	$97,668
44	Laura Ingram	$97,200
45	Suzanne Barnard	$95,598
46	Emilia Zarate	$95,565
47	Anita Martinez	$93,803
48	Santos Richard De Los	$92,114
49	Cory Strickland	$91,584
50	Susana Esparza	$91,200
51	Sowjanya Kattamuri	$91,164
52	Lenss Johanna Spence	$89,956
53	Patrick Bizzell	$89,163
54	Beth Thorson	$88,617
55	Jonathan Huss	$88,259
55	Ivan Melchor	$88,259
57	Michael Kelly	$88,200
57	Christina Osborn	$88,200
57	Alexander MacGregor	$88,200
57	Rayneldo Rivera	$88,200
61	Lindsay Baerwald	$87,400
62	Teresa Cornett	$87,173
63	Mindy Fryer	$86,240
64	Perry Cervantes	$86,153
65	Adriana Diaz	$85,715
65	Mary Gomez-Kokkinos	$85,715
67	Wesley Williams	$85,680
68	John Gee	$85,347
69	James Yoshida	$85,176
70	Sarah Carlson	$84,838
71	Chad Hinds	$84,216
72	Trenton Engledow	$84,126
73	Danielle Mitchell-Bender	$84,018
74	Roxana Newton	$82,800
74	Nathan Leake	$82,800
74	Skyler Shafer	$82,800
77	Kelli Wise	$82,418
78	Leonelle Tualla	$82,350
79	Dennis Wiedeman	$81,963
80	Juliana Dierker	$81,120
80	Marcela Delgado	$81,120
82	Estella Martinez-Perrin	$81,031
83	James Reaves	$80,625
84	Michael Wilkinson	$80,220
85	James Tarsi	$79,950
86	Anthony Tegbe	$79,516
87	Michael Olivas	$79,510
88	Jean Lonie	$79,200
89	Justin Rand	$79,140
90	Belia Montelongo	$78,427
91	Rickey McKinley	$78,000
92	Kevin Cox	$77,112
93	Celeste Saulsberry	$77,082
94	Roberto Villarreal	$76,941
94	Kristin Chaumont	$76,941
96	George Aguilar	$76,874
97	Suzanne Carson	$76,839
98	Gary Stewart	$76,830
99	Jerry Eason	$76,427
100	Sterling Smith	$76,068