Do you need a license to be a handyman in Texas?

Texas Handyman License Requirements

By Ray Duke, Founder of Bulletproof Handyman · Texas rules checked November 2, 2026

Texas has no statewide general contractor license for this work, so local and trade rules decide.

No statewide general license

Texas

Not applicable. No state dollar threshold for general/handyman work. Electrical work has no dollar exemption: TDLR states anyone who performs electrical work in Texas must be licensed (exemptions listed at tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/exemptions.htm, not fetched).

What counts toward it: other: not applicable - no state general/handyman license exists, so there is no dollar threshold

"Anyone who performs electrical work in the state of Texas must be licensed."

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · checked November 2, 2026

Who regulates this

None for general/handyman work. Trades: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) - Electricians and Air Conditioning & Refrigeration programs; Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners (TSBPE) - plumbing. LLC formation: Texas Secretary of State.

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · tdlr.texas.gov · checked November 2, 2026

Does Texas license general and residential work?

Texas has no state license or registration for general, residential, home-improvement or handyman contractors (the Texas Residential Construction Commission was abolished in 2009 - historical lead, not re-verified on an official page this pass). State licensing applies only to specific trades: electrical (TDLR), air conditioning & refrigeration (TDLR), plumbing (Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners).

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · tdlr.texas.gov · checked November 2, 2026

Registration

No state registration for handyman/general contractors. Trade licensees register/license with TDLR or TSBPE (amounts not fetched).

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · sos.state.tx.us · checked November 2, 2026

Trade work

Electrical: TDLR licenses electricians and electrical contractors statewide (licensing effective Sept 1, 2004; residential appliance installer license since March 1, 2008); applies in unincorporated areas too; a municipal electrician license is valid only within that city. No handyman carve-out found; 'electrical work' includes any labor or material used in installing, maintaining or extending an electrical wiring system. SB 705 (2025) changed the ACR contractors advisory board).

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · checked November 2, 2026

City and county rules

State does not license general contractors; some cities require contractor registration (local). Municipal electrician licenses exist but are valid only within that city; statewide TDLR license is required regardless. Local details not verified here.

Source: tdlr.texas.gov · checked November 2, 2026

What a handyman should charge in Texas

Statewide planning estimate: $71 to $98 an hour. It's an estimate from public data, not the market rate. City pages use local wages when we can match them.

Step	Low end	High end
Your pay (employee wage for this work in Texas)	$46,670 median	$59,180 top quarter starts here
Overhead ($33,148 national, adjusted to local prices at 97.1)	$32,173	$32,173
Profit 15% + PTO 10% + warranty 3% + business taxes 12%	+40%	+40%
Yearly total to cover	$110,380	$127,894
Billed hours a year (hours on the job × 52)	30 × 52 = 1,560	25 × 52 = 1,300
Hourly rate	$71	$98

Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 49-9071 Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, Texas (statewide figure, because we could not match a metro for this place). The top-quarter figure is in the BLS data file.
Local prices: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024, Texas, all items index 97.1 (US = 100).
Overhead, hours and percentages: median answers from members using our hourly rate calculator, the same formula that tool uses. National, not local.

Run your own numbers in the free calculator.

Texas places we cover (80)

Rules change. This page shows what official sources said on the dates above. It is not legal advice.