Texas Building Permit Fee Calculator
What a building permit costs in Texas, city by city — with the official municipal fee calculators and the declared construction values those fees are actually computed from.
Last updated August 23, 2026
How much does a building permit cost in Texas?
Texas has no statewide building-permit fee. Each city sets its own schedule by ordinance, and for commercial work the fee is normally calculated from the declared construction value on the application, plus separate plan-review and trade-permit charges. Because the declared value drives the fee, the fastest honest estimate is to look up what comparable projects in your city actually declared — then confirm the exact amount in your city's published schedule.
Quick estimate
Texas sets no statewide permit fee — every city adopts its own schedule by ordinance. This estimator approximates the common structure of those schedules and is not derived from fees invoiced on permit records. Always confirm against your city's published fee schedule.
Official Texas city permit fee calculators
Several Texas cities publish their own permit fee calculator, and those tools are authoritative in a way no third-party estimate can be — they read the current adopted fee schedule. Use the official calculator for the number you will actually be invoiced, and use the data below to sanity-check the declared construction value you put on the application.
Houston building permit fees
Houston publishes two separate official estimators — one for commercial building permits and one for residential — on the Houston Permitting Center site.
Austin building permit fees
Austin publishes a full fee schedule that is revised each fiscal year, with separate line items for building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing review.
San Antonio building permit fees
San Antonio runs an online fee estimator alongside its published fee schedule, both maintained by Development Services.
Dallas building permit fees
Dallas publishes a building-inspection fee schedule and a downloadable fee-estimate worksheet through its Building Inspection Division.
Fort Worth building permit fees
Fort Worth sets building-permit fees through the Development Services fee schedule adopted by city ordinance.
What Texas projects actually declare, by city
Across 7,191 commercial construction project filings in 19 Texas cities between august 2025 – august 2026, the median declared construction value was $919,600 in Houston, $800,000 in Austin and $900,000 in Dallas. Half of all filings in each city fall inside the quartile range shown — that spread, not the median alone, is what makes a single "average permit cost" figure misleading.
| City | Filings | Median declared value | Middle 50% range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston | 1,560 | $919,600 | $350,000 – $2,883,000 |
| Austin | 1,019 | $800,000 | $250,000 – $2,930,000 |
| San Antonio | 867 | $750,000 | $250,000 – $2,150,000 |
| Dallas | 737 | $900,000 | $380,000 – $3,462,784 |
| Fort Worth | 579 | $800,000 | $309,153 – $3,064,523 |
| Plano | 281 | $847,160 | $350,000 – $2,950,000 |
| El Paso | 274 | $559,410 | $190,000 – $2,000,000 |
| Katy | 216 | $816,272 | $277,525 – $2,585,250 |
| Frisco | 193 | $750,000 | $350,000 – $2,200,000 |
| McKinney | 189 | $1,008,000 | $321,150 – $3,053,050 |
| Arlington | 187 | $830,000 | $300,000 – $2,800,000 |
| Irving | 181 | $850,000 | $325,000 – $2,030,000 |
| Corpus Christi | 160 | $880,000 | $290,000 – $2,232,000 |
| Lubbock | 152 | $848,000 | $300,000 – $2,200,000 |
| Sugar Land | 134 | $800,000 | $250,000 – $2,326,410 |
| New Braunfels | 121 | $1,100,000 | $363,160 – $4,300,000 |
| Midland | 116 | $1,300,000 | $450,000 – $4,500,000 |
| Richardson | 115 | $799,371 | $265,000 – $3,500,000 |
| Conroe | 110 | $850,000 | $400,000 – $2,000,000 |
Source: Zabalist analysis of Texas public construction records, covering commercial-sector project filings with a declared value of $1,000 or more and activity between august 2025 – august 2026. Cities with fewer than 100 qualifying filings are excluded. Declared construction value is the figure submitted on the permit application — it is the input most Texas cities multiply to set a commercial permit fee, not the fee itself. Updated August 23, 2026.
What Texas building permit fees are based on
A Texas building permit invoice is normally several charges added together, not one number: a building-permit fee scaled to declared construction value or floor area, a plan-review fee, separate electrical, mechanical and plumbing trade permits, and any impact or development fees the city applies. Each of those is set locally, which is why the same project can cost materially different amounts one city line over.
- Declared construction value — the dominant driver for commercial work. Understating it to reduce the fee is a compliance problem, not a saving.
- Plan review — commonly billed as a percentage of the building-permit fee and charged even if the project never breaks ground.
- Trade permits — electrical, mechanical and plumbing work is usually permitted separately, by the licensed trade contractor rather than the owner.
- Minimums and re-inspection fees — most schedules set a floor fee, so very small jobs cost more than a pure percentage would suggest.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a City of Houston permit fee calculator?
- Yes. The Houston Permitting Center publishes two official estimators — one for commercial building permits and one for residential — at houstonpermittingcenter.org/fee-calculator. They read Houston's adopted fee schedule, so they are the authoritative source for a Houston number. Zabalist records show a median declared construction value of $919,600 across 1,560 Houston commercial project filings in the last twelve months.
- Do I need a permit for a home renovation in Texas?
- Structural changes, electrical and plumbing modifications, additions and most work that alters the building envelope require a permit in Texas cities. Cosmetic work such as painting, flooring or cabinet replacement generally does not. Requirements are set by each municipality, so confirm with the local building department before starting.
- Why does this page not publish a single average permit fee?
- Because the platform holds permit filings, not the fees invoiced against them, and Texas has no statewide fee schedule to average. Publishing a made-up statewide figure would read authoritative and be wrong. The table above reports what Zabalist can actually verify — declared construction value — and links to the city calculators for the fee itself.