Editor's note: This table has been updated to correct errors in data provided by the Texas Education Agency on superintendent pay.
Nearly half of the top 25 highest paid superintendents in Texas are located in or around the Houston area, according to state data.
During the 2023-24 school year, nine of the top 15 highest paid leaders were in the Houston area, although due to changes in positions, only seven of the top 15 highest earning leaders were in the Houston area last year.
The lucrative post is reliably the highest paid position in a school district. But with over 1,200 school districts in Texas, salaries can range widely. Almost 200 leaders in the state made between $1,000 and $100,000, while the median salary was $145,000.
The average salary for all Texas superintendents during the last school year was a little higher, around $162,000, yet over 100 leaders made more than $300,000 during the same time frame, and 10 leaders made more than $400,000.
Only one superintendent, who was an interim top administrator during the 2024-25 school year in Victoria ISD, made above $500,000 last year, according to data from the Texas Education Agency. But district records tell a different story.
Randall Meyer, former interim superintendent in Victoria ISD is listed as the highest paid superintendent in Texas in the state data, making $565,000. But Meyer, who has since retired, was only paid a total of $220,449, according to the district's check register for the 2024-25 school year. The error is due to a system glitch that the district faced when attempting to update Meyer's pay after he was named interim superintendent, according to district records.
Meyer's predecessor, Quintin Shepard, made around $300,000 leading the district of around 12,000 students, according to data from the 2023-24 school year. Meyer, who reportedly did not plan to apply for the superintendent position, recently retired from the district.Victoria ISD's current superintendent, Sheila Collazo, took the helm during the 2024-25 school year, making $250,000 initially and then receiving a raise, now earning $262,000, according to a Victoria news outlet.
The actual highest paid superintendent last school year is Greg Poole, from Barbers Hill ISD in Greater Houston. Poole made just under $490,000 during the 2024-25 school year, according to the data. Poole took over the top spot for highest-paid school leader in Texas from Mark Henry, former Cy-Fair ISD superintendent, who made a base salary of $536,775 before he retired in 2023. Doug Killian has led Cy-Fair ISD as superintendent since December 2023 and was the fifth highest-paid superintendent in Texas last year.
Cy-Fair ISD is the third largest district in Texas with 118,000 students enrolled last year, while Barbers Hill ISD had around 7,900 students.
Other changes have occurred since the 2024-25 school year, the most recent data available from the TEA. Houston ISD's Mike Miles has since earned two bonuses, first an $82,000 bonus in June and another $173,000 bonus in September. That additional compensation likely makes him the highest earning superintendent in Texas for the current school year, at $635,000, although the state has not yet released superintendent salary reports for 2025-26.
Marc Smith, superintendent at Fort Bend ISD, also received a raise this year of almost $30,000. His base pay is now $438,700.
Some superintendents listed have since gotten new jobs or retired. DeeAnn Powell retired from Pasadena ISD, succeeded by Toni Lopez. In Conroe ISD, Curtis Null left and took a new job in Lake Travis ISD. Null was succeeded by David Vinson. Christopher Townsend is now the superintendent in Bay City ISD, and Kimberly Cantu will retire from her post in Mansfield ISD in February.
Base pay, however, isn't the only source of income for the top administrators of Texas' school districts. They can receive tens of thousands of dollars in retention stipends, retirement bonuses or unused vacation days.
In the 2023-2024 school year, according to a Chronicle analysis of Houston area superintendent contracts, salaries spanned from below $200,000 to more than $450,000. But with the value of benefits factored in, total payments for some of the leaders neared $600,000 or more.
Top 25 highest paid public school leaders in Texas
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Elizabeth Sander is an Education Reporter at the Houston Chronicle. She covers K-12 schools across the Greater Houston area, with a focus on issues that impact the 500,000+ students enrolled in Houston's suburban ISDs, charter schools and private schools.
She can be reached at [email protected].
Previously, Elizabeth was a Hearst fellow covering education, local politics and breaking news for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News.
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