Introduction
Most people think winning TxDOT jobs is about bidding low. It isn’t. It’s about understanding where the money is moving, and noticing the places other contractors overlook. Every month we sort through the letting data and point out where the real openings are.
We focus on three ideas:
Unique Bidders — Fewer competitors mean better odds.
Total Spend — More dollars means more work to win.
Single-Bidder Jobs — The quiet corners where one bid gets the job done.
September in a Snapshot
In September 2025, TxDOT let $671.7 million across 203 projects in 106 counties.
Contractors submitted 866 total bids from 252 unique firms, and 35 jobs were awarded to a single bidder.
It was a steady, opportunity-rich month. Plenty of activity, but still full of pockets where smart targeting paid off.
Where the Money Went
Hartley County dominated September with a single massive job just shy of $100 million, drawing only six bidders.
Starr followed, also with one large project. Hidalgo, Gregg, and Dallas rounded out the list with strong totals and moderate competition.
Hartley County — 1 project, 6 bidders, $99.7M
Starr County — 1 project, 6 bidders, $62.3M
Hidalgo County — 3 projects, 19 bidders (16 unique), $43.3M
Gregg County — 2 projects, 12 bidders (12 unique), $37.3M
Dallas County — 10 projects, 26 bidders (16 unique), $30.8M
Takeaway: A single, high-value project made Hartley the month’s standout in terms of dollars let. Starr and Hidalgo provided the next-best opportunities with large-scale jobs and manageable competition.
Where Bidders Had the Most Leverage
“Spend per bidder” shows how much work was up for grabs per competitor. Higher values signal lighter competition.
Hartley — $16.61M per bidder
Winkler — $11.47M per bidder
Starr — $10.38M per bidder
Jasper — $4.56M per bidder
Madison — $3.66M per bidder
Takeaway: Hartley, Winkler, and Starr offered the best payout-per-competitor ratios this month, ideal targets for firms seeking high-margin opportunities.
Single-Bidder Jobs
September saw 35 single-bidder awards, about 17% of all projects.
Most of these were in small, rural counties. Quiet areas where firms willing to show up often walked away with the contract.
Dallas — 4 single bidder jobs
Jefferson and Bexar — 3 single bidder jobs
Tarrant, Lubbock, Navarro — 2 single bidder jobs
Takeaway: The month rewarded contractors looking off the beaten path. Rural, lower-visibility projects continued to be the best source of low-competition wins.
Competitiveness Rankings by County (September 2025)
Rank | County | Projects | Bidders | Unique Bidders | Single-Bidder Jobs | Spend |
1 | Winkler | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $11.5M |
2 | Hartley | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $99.7M |
3 | Starr | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $62.3M |
4 | Dallas | 10 | 26 | 16 | 4 | $30.8M |
5 | Castro | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $3.6M |
6 | Jasper | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $13.7M |
7 | Tom Green | 3 | 7 | 5 | 0 | $21.2M |
8 | Madison | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $18.3M |
9 | Gregg | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $37.3M |
10 | Tarrant | 5 | 14 | 11 | 2 | $11.2M |
11 | Hidalgo | 3 | 19 | 16 | 0 | $43.3M |
12 | Kinney | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $5.3M |
13 | Lubbock | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | $1.7M |
14 | Hansford | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $12.5M |
15 | Upton | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $9.9M |
16 | Coryell | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $7.2M |
17 | Bowie | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $1.1M |
18 | Dawson | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $17.1M |
19 | Jefferson | 5 | 10 | 6 | 3 | $2.7M |
20 | Bexar | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | $1.3M |
21 | Newton | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $866.0k |
22 | Atascosa | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $18.1M |
23 | Orange | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $1.4M |
24 | San Patricio | 2 | 17 | 10 | 0 | $13.4M |
25 | Ellis | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $10.2M |
26 | Navarro | 7 | 27 | 25 | 2 | $10.5M |
27 | Bosque | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $5.0M |
28 | Webb | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $4.8M |
29 | Karnes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $570.0k |
30 | Henderson | 3 | 9 | 9 | 1 | $5.1M |
31 | Wichita | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $538.7k |
32 | Deaf Smith | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $530.0k |
33 | Cameron | 6 | 22 | 14 | 0 | $14.2M |
34 | Lamb | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $470.1k |
35 | Brazoria | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $6.4M |
36 | Collin | 3 | 10 | 8 | 0 | $7.1M |
37 | El Paso | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $5.8M |
38 | Harris | 9 | 55 | 26 | 0 | $21.6M |
39 | Angelina | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | $4.9M |
40 | Liberty | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $405.5k |
41 | Potter | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $6.0M |
42 | Gonzales | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $2.9M |
43 | Colorado | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $353.2k |
44 | San Saba | 2 | 16 | 16 | 0 | $11.2M |
45 | McLennan | 5 | 27 | 24 | 0 | $16.1M |
46 | Midland | 5 | 16 | 12 | 0 | $7.6M |
47 | Montague | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $4.8M |
48 | Grimes | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $5.5M |
49 | Hale | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | $1.3M |
50 | Erath | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | $499.2k |
12-Month Trends (Oct 2024–Sept 2025)
Across the last year, TxDOT let over $10 billion across 2,000+ projects in 229 counties.
There were more than 8,800 bids from over 540 firms, and single-bidder awards remained common.
Top Counties by Spend
Travis — ~$1.46B
Dallas — ~$1.02B
Brazos — ~$695M
Hidalgo — ~$432M
Grayson — ~$287M
Most Competitive (Unique Bidders)
Denton (108)
Collin (105)
Harris (94)
Travis (81)
Bexar (81)
Low-Competition Hotspots (Single-Bidder Jobs)
El Paso (10)
Dallas (8)
Jefferson (6)
Bexar, Tarrant, Nueces (5)
Bowie (4)
Takeaway:
Big metros like Dallas, Travis, and Hidalgo continue to drive volume. But the best margin opportunities repeatedly show up in smaller communities like El Paso, Jefferson, and rural counties across West and East Texas.
Smart firms treat these as complementary strategies: chase the metros for scale, the small markets for margin.
County Competitiveness: Last 12 Months (Oct 2024–Sept 2025)
Rank | County | Projects | Bidders | Unique Bidders | Single-Bidder Jobs | Spend |
1 | Dallas | 49 | 180 | 68 | 8 | $1.0B |
2 | El Paso | 29 | 78 | 33 | 10 | $165.2M |
3 | Travis | 38 | 172 | 81 | 2 | $1.5B |
4 | Dallam | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $25.9M |
5 | Grayson | 21 | 79 | 50 | 3 | $286.7M |
6 | Brazos | 28 | 105 | 61 | 1 | $695.3M |
7 | Bexar | 51 | 207 | 81 | 5 | $260.5M |
8 | Deaf Smith | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | $47.4M |
9 | Kenedy | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $61.6M |
10 | Webb | 19 | 65 | 48 | 3 | $139.6M |
11 | Nueces | 29 | 109 | 62 | 5 | $120.1M |
12 | Hartley | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $100.3M |
13 | Harris | 76 | 382 | 94 | 2 | $335.2M |
14 | McLennan | 28 | 139 | 78 | 1 | $399.6M |
15 | Collin | 49 | 202 | 105 | 2 | $358.0M |
16 | Madison | 7 | 31 | 20 | 0 | $202.8M |
17 | Denton | 45 | 239 | 108 | 1 | $538.5M |
18 | Culberson | 4 | 13 | 13 | 0 | $127.7M |
19 | Hidalgo | 27 | 115 | 59 | 1 | $285.7M |
20 | Moore | 8 | 19 | 18 | 3 | $42.2M |
21 | Gregg | 12 | 61 | 36 | 2 | $104.9M |
22 | Galveston | 18 | 78 | 49 | 2 | $138.5M |
23 | Kaufman | 30 | 129 | 63 | 3 | $127.0M |
24 | Kleberg | 8 | 32 | 23 | 0 | $181.6M |
25 | Montgomery | 21 | 89 | 52 | 3 | $102.2M |
26 | Tarrant | 47 | 187 | 80 | 5 | $102.3M |
27 | Sterling | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $22.8M |
28 | Castro | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $3.6M |
29 | Williamson | 17 | 88 | 62 | 1 | $182.3M |
30 | Cochran | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $28.9M |
31 | Bastrop | 12 | 68 | 54 | 2 | $95.9M |
32 | Hood | 5 | 17 | 17 | 2 | $28.2M |
33 | Lubbock | 18 | 65 | 42 | 3 | $50.2M |
34 | Reeves | 7 | 28 | 16 | 0 | $70.6M |
35 | Starr | 3 | 20 | 15 | 0 | $64.3M |
36 | Bowie | 19 | 69 | 44 | 4 | $37.7M |
37 | Erath | 13 | 48 | 38 | 3 | $40.2M |
38 | Jefferson | 40 | 152 | 80 | 6 | $45.5M |
39 | Armstrong | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $19.9M |
40 | Brooks | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $1.9M |
41 | Maverick | 5 | 13 | 12 | 1 | $22.6M |
42 | Menard | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $11.3M |
43 | Lipscomb | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $18.7M |
44 | Lamb | 6 | 18 | 15 | 1 | $27.3M |
45 | Winkler | 2 | 8 | 8 | 1 | $14.1M |
46 | Liberty | 9 | 36 | 25 | 1 | $42.6M |
47 | Upton | 2 | 8 | 7 | 0 | $23.6M |
48 | Robertson | 8 | 39 | 18 | 0 | $59.9M |
49 | Cass | 8 | 27 | 20 | 2 | $21.1M |
50 | Montague | 6 | 30 | 14 | 0 | $40.3M |
51 | Hale | 11 | 31 | 27 | 1 | $38.7M |
52 | Goliad | 5 | 16 | 12 | 0 | $33.0M |
53 | La Salle | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | $2.0M |
54 | Bosque | 6 | 20 | 17 | 1 | $21.6M |
55 | Hansford | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $12.5M |
56 | Nolan | 6 | 26 | 22 | 0 | $51.1M |
57 | Nacogdoches | 12 | 50 | 37 | 2 | $28.6M |
58 | Franklin | 4 | 14 | 14 | 2 | $10.7M |
59 | Martin | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $11.3M |
60 | San Patricio | 13 | 54 | 34 | 2 | $24.9M |
61 | Hopkins | 15 | 53 | 44 | 3 | $23.4M |
62 | Smith | 22 | 120 | 67 | 1 | $70.4M |
63 | Leon | 4 | 17 | 12 | 0 | $25.0M |
64 | Wichita | 16 | 61 | 41 | 2 | $27.8M |
65 | Angelina | 23 | 105 | 60 | 1 | $60.8M |
66 | Johnson | 11 | 54 | 43 | 1 | $43.2M |
67 | Briscoe | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $7.7M |
68 | Fort Bend | 17 | 67 | 45 | 1 | $43.2M |
69 | Concho | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $15.3M |
70 | Dawson | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $17.1M |
71 | Henderson | 14 | 61 | 49 | 3 | $23.3M |
72 | Sabine | 6 | 23 | 18 | 1 | $16.7M |
73 | San Saba | 5 | 20 | 19 | 2 | $11.7M |
74 | Wheeler | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $14.8M |
75 | Cameron | 13 | 55 | 30 | 1 | $26.8M |
76 | Ector | 24 | 95 | 52 | 2 | $30.7M |
77 | Crockett | 2 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $24.7M |
78 | Orange | 15 | 62 | 49 | 3 | $21.5M |
79 | Ward | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $17.5M |
80 | Austin | 9 | 44 | 31 | 1 | $26.8M |
81 | Taylor | 16 | 77 | 48 | 2 | $27.5M |
82 | Jones | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $15.2M |
83 | Delta | 5 | 14 | 13 | 2 | $7.2M |
84 | Parmer | 3 | 23 | 21 | 0 | $34.3M |
85 | Lamar | 19 | 76 | 41 | 3 | $16.2M |
86 | Parker | 14 | 63 | 44 | 2 | $22.9M |
87 | Kinney | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $6.2M |
88 | Hunt | 20 | 102 | 71 | 2 | $36.1M |
89 | Wise | 11 | 44 | 35 | 1 | $24.8M |
90 | Jim Hogg | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $5.5M |
91 | Gillespie | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $9.2M |
92 | Scurry | 5 | 15 | 11 | 0 | $14.3M |
93 | Brown | 12 | 54 | 40 | 3 | $13.0M |
94 | Grimes | 7 | 36 | 28 | 0 | $36.1M |
95 | Tom Green | 20 | 73 | 54 | 1 | $34.3M |
96 | Hutchinson | 2 | 7 | 7 | 1 | $4.4M |
97 | Howard | 6 | 22 | 19 | 0 | $23.7M |
98 | Terrell | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $3.7M |
99 | Hemphill | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $614.5k |
100 | Randall | 8 | 24 | 17 | 0 | $20.7M |
Acting on September’s Signals
Hartley, Winkler, and Starr offered the strongest leverage this month.
Hidalgo supplied meaningful volume with moderate competition, good middle-ground opportunity.
Dallas brought size, not ease, as bidder counts stayed high.
Rural counties continue to be strongholds for single-bidder wins.
September’s $671 million in lettings shows that opportunity isn’t just about how much TxDOT spends, it’s about knowing where competitors aren’t looking.
Bidlo helps contractors see that clearly sorting, mapping, and prioritizing what matters.
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