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Job Title · City Detail

Investigator Iv Salary in Austin, Texas

In Austin, the State of Texas reports 15 public employees holding the INVESTIGATOR IV classification. Average annual base pay is $64,738, with a median of $65,089 and a range from $54,739 to $77,520. The largest employer of this title in Austin is DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

Employees15
Average pay$64,738
Median pay$65,089
Top earner$77,520

How Austin compares for the INVESTIGATOR IV role

Across all of Texas state government, the average base pay for the INVESTIGATOR IV classification is $64,738, calculated from 15 employees in 6+ agencies statewide. In Austin specifically the average sits at $64,738, which runs about 0% below the statewide figure for this role — a difference of $0.00 per year between an average Austin incumbent and an average Texas incumbent in the same classification. That gap is consistent with what you would expect given the mix of employers active in Austin and the cost-of-living posture of the metro relative to other Texas cities.

Compared to all public-sector employees in Austin (regardless of title), the INVESTIGATOR IV role pays about 47% less than the citywide average of $122,907. That places this title below the citywide average, which is common for support, technical, and entry-level state classifications — the citywide figure is pulled upward by the state's senior medical, judicial, executive, and academic-leadership salaries. For an apples-to-apples comparison against other roles in Austin, see our city profile for Austin or compare against the same title in other Texas cities via the INVESTIGATOR IV hub.

Within Austin, the INVESTIGATOR IV classification appears at 6 different state employers: DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION, TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, TEXAS DEPT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION. The single largest employer is DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES, which accounts for 5 of the 15 reported records in this combination. Where multiple agencies employ the same classification, pay variation is normal — agencies set individual pay within the state classification plan's salary band based on tenure, market conditions, and any agency-specific salary supplements that have been authorized by the Legislature or by the agency's governing board.

Top Investigator Ivs in Austin by pay

NameAgencyAnnual payHire date
Albert Sanchez TEXAS DEPT OF LICENSING AND REGULATION $77,520 September 1, 2025
Labranda Shelton DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES $72,195 February 19, 2019
Mieshia Ray DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES $70,663 March 1, 2021
Olivia Johnson HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION $67,272 November 1, 2017
Gwendolyn Booker DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES $67,232 January 6, 2014
Iliana Rocha DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES $66,712 June 29, 2020
Sheri Hard TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD $65,089 August 22, 2016
Susan Bozeman TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD $65,089 December 2, 2024
Deanna Lane Martinez HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION $64,417 February 9, 2026
Norma Robles DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES $60,864 October 18, 2004
Lexis Young TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES $60,799 April 18, 2022
Ryan Lord DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY $60,164 July 15, 2021
Victor Campa DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY $59,517 May 24, 2002
Marco Salaam TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES $58,800 February 12, 2024
Juliann Casanova HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION $54,739 May 20, 2019

Reading this number in context

The annual pay column on this page reflects what the State of Texas reports as the employee’s annualized base salary at the time of the most recent payroll snapshot. It does not include benefits, retirement contributions (such as TRS or ERS employer contributions), longevity pay, hazardous-duty pay, paid leave cash-outs, contract buyouts, or any supplements paid out of foundation, athletic, or grant funds — categories that can add materially to total compensation, especially in academic medical centers and senior university roles. Use the figures here as an apples-to-apples baseline for comparison; treat them as the starting point of a conversation, not the final word.

Two employees in Austin with the same INVESTIGATOR IV title can earn very different amounts for legitimate reasons. The State of Texas operates a position classification plan in which most titles map to a salary group with a defined minimum, midpoint, and maximum, and agencies are free to set individual pay anywhere within that band. Universities and elected-officials’ offices are exempt from the standard plan altogether and set pay independently. Tenure, prior agency service, market-pay adjustments approved under Texas Government Code Chapter 659, and acting-leadership stipends all contribute to within-title variation. For the full set of caveats, see our methodology.

If you want to compare what the INVESTIGATOR IV role pays in other Texas cities, the INVESTIGATOR IV hub aggregates every reported incumbent statewide. To see what other classifications pay in Austin, the Austin city profile breaks down the local mix of employers and titles. For peer roles, the job-titles index is the master list.