Texas general contractors reported over $127 billion in contracting revenue last year, marking a 17.5% jump from 2023. When developers and property owners search for top general contractors in Texas, they encounter three primary ranking systems that measure different aspects of construction performance.
Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston business journals track local revenue and billings across specific county clusters, while ENR consolidates Texas within a broader regional framework. These independent rankings reveal how firms scale across the state and provide concrete data for construction feasibility assessments.
How Do Major Sources Rank Top General Contractors In Texas?
Three primary sources define the landscape for ranking general contractors across Texas. Each uses distinct methodologies, geographic coverage, and measurement criteria that reflect different aspects of the construction market.
Dallas Business Journal Rankings
The Dallas Business Journal ranks North Texas general contractors by 2024 local revenue. Coverage spans twelve counties including Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and Wise counties.
The ranking requires a minimum of 100 total employees for inclusion. The online version expands beyond the print edition, adding 20 companies to the 40 featured in print. Ties are resolved first by total employment, then alphabetically.
Data collection combines Dallas Business Journal research with firm questionnaires that cannot be independently verified. For non-responding companies, the publication estimates figures using archives, U.S. Department of Labor filings, and other firm-specific resources.
Houston Business Journal Methodology
The Houston Business Journal measures contractors by local billings rather than revenue. Their coverage includes ten counties: Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Waller. Combined billings exceed $7 billion from offices within this geographic footprint.
Like its Dallas counterpart, the Houston list expands online with 30 additional companies beyond the 20 featured in print. The same tie-breaking methodology applies, ranking by total employees first, then alphabetically.
Information comes from research and firm questionnaires, with estimates provided for non-responding companies using similar archival methods.
ENR Texas & Southeast Rankings
Engineering News-Record takes a broader regional approach with its Texas & Southeast Top Contractors ranking. This methodology focuses on contracting-specific revenue rather than total revenue or billings. The distinction captures firms’ core construction work while filtering out non-construction activities.
The 2025 ranking shows responding firms collectively reported $127.88 billion in 2024, representing 17.5% growth from the previous year’s $108.79 billion. ENR lists 133 responding firms and maintains sub-regional data for Texas & Louisiana and Southeast markets.
This regional consolidation provides context for Texas contractors within broader market trends across adjacent states. The contracting-specific revenue metric offers a focused view of actual construction capacity rather than total corporate revenue.
What Do The North Texas Numbers Show About Market Scale?
The 60 largest general contractors reported more than $18.62 billion in total revenue from offices in the 12-county North Texas area. This massive figure demonstrates the concentration of construction activity across Dallas County, Tarrant County, Collin County, and the broader Dallas–Fort Worth region.
The Dallas Business Journal’s online rankings include 20 additional companies beyond the 40 featured in print, providing a deeper view of market participants. Previewed 2024 local revenues for the top entries range from roughly $731.76 million to $3.43 billion, showing significant scale differences even among leading firms.
Beyond revenue figures, the rankings provide essential data fields that help us evaluate contractor capacity and regional presence. The list reports square feet developed, which indicates project scale and construction volume experience. Local and companywide employment figures reveal workforce capacity and organizational depth across different markets.
Additional metrics include headquarters location and year founded locally, offering insights into regional roots versus national expansion strategies. These capacity indicators prove valuable when assessing whether a contractor has the footprint and resources to handle specific project requirements across the Dallas–Fort Worth construction market.
What Does The Houston Snapshot Reveal For Top Contractors?
Houston general contractors collectively reported over $7 billion in local billings from offices spanning ten counties across the greater metropolitan area. This massive scale reflects the ongoing construction activity across Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris County, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto, and Waller counties. The geographic coverage extends well beyond Houston’s core, capturing contractors who serve the region’s industrial corridors, suburban growth areas, and coastal developments.
The top-performing Houston general contractors show local gross billings ranging from approximately $484.43 million to $931.97 million. This concentration of high-volume work demonstrates how established contractors dominate the market while maintaining consistent project flow. Harris County and Fort Bend County anchor much of this activity, though contractors regularly execute projects across all covered counties to serve diverse client bases.
The detailed firm profiles reveal specialization patterns and operational history that standard revenue figures miss. Local founding years indicate how long contractors have navigated Houston’s specific permitting processes, weather challenges, and supplier networks. Employee counts signal current capacity for multiple simultaneous projects, while executive contacts show decision-making accessibility for time-sensitive development schedules.
How Can Construction Teams Use These Lists To Shortlist Partners?
Geographic targeting forms the foundation of effective contractor selection. North Texas rankings cover twelve counties from Collin to Wise, while Houston data spans ten counties from Austin to Waller. We match these boundaries to our project locations before diving into firm-specific analysis.
Revenue comparisons reveal contractor scale and capacity. North Texas lists rank by 2024 local revenue, Houston focuses on local gross billings, and ENR measures contracting-specific revenue across the broader Texas and Southeast region. Each metric signals different aspects of firm performance and backlog strength.
Employment size offers capacity insights beyond revenue figures. Local headcount indicates immediate project bandwidth, while companywide employment reveals broader organizational resources. Square footage developed provides another capacity signal, particularly for firms handling large-scale development work.
Digital rankings expand beyond print limitations. The Dallas Business Journal online version adds 20 companies to its print list of 40. Houston adds 30 companies beyond its print edition of 20. CSV downloads accelerate analysis by enabling quick sorting and filtering across multiple data fields.
Cross-referencing sources provides performance trends. Business journal data captures local market position, while ENR regional rankings show broader competitive standing. The ENR Texas & Southeast list reported 17.5% growth from 2023 to 2024, indicating regional construction activity levels that affect contractor availability and pricing.
Conclusion and Next Steps
The top general contractors in Texas emerge from three distinct data-driven ranking systems that measure different aspects of market performance. Regional market data from Dallas Business Journal and Houston Business Journal provides county-level granularity for local revenue and billings, while ENR’s Texas & Southeast ranking delivers broader contracting-specific revenue insights across multiple states. These complementary sources create a comprehensive view of contractor capacity and market positioning throughout the state.
For construction teams conducting capacity assessment, the strategic approach involves layering these data sources to match project geography and scope. North Texas rankings cover 12 counties with revenue ranging from hundreds of millions to multi-billion-dollar operations, while Houston’s 10-county coverage reveals billings patterns across the energy corridor. ENR’s regional perspective adds year-over-year growth trends and comparative context that helps identify firms expanding their market presence. When we evaluate contractors for major projects, we cross-reference local employment figures, square footage developed, and founding years to verify operational depth and regional commitment.
Ready to identify the right general contractor for your Texas project? Contact EB3 Construction to discuss how we align our proven capacity with your specific requirements.
