Every new TxDOT letting enters a market that already has work in motion.

That existing workload is not evenly distributed.

As of May 11, TxDOT has $20.95B in active backlog across 3,792 active projects and 25 districts. Active backlog refers to the remaining value tied to active projects. Change orders refer to approved contract value added after award.

Together, those two measures show two different parts of the current market. Active backlog shows where work is already on the books. Change orders show where active contract values have grown since award.

Dallas has the largest remaining workload in the state. Fort Worth has the highest change order percentage. Houston has the largest active project count among the top five districts. Austin has nearly the same active backlog as Houston, but across far fewer projects.

That is the shape of the current TxDOT active market: concentrated, uneven, and already carrying a large amount of work before the next letting is added.

The map below shows how active work is distributed across TxDOT districts.

Use the toggle to switch between active backlog and change orders. The active backlog view shows where remaining project value is concentrated. The change order view shows where approved contract growth has accumulated after award.

The two views do not tell the same story.

Dallas stands out in the active backlog view because it carries the largest remaining workload in the state. Fort Worth becomes more prominent in the change order view because it has the largest approved change order total and the highest change order percentage.

That split is the main reason to look at both layers. One shows where work is still on the books. The other shows where active contract values have grown.

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Dallas ranks first statewide with $4.89B in active backlog across 324 active projects.

That is more than double the active backlog in Houston or Austin, which rank second and third.

Houston has $2.41B in active backlog across 422 projects. Austin has $2.39B across 163 projects.

Those two districts are nearly tied by remaining value, but they are not carrying that work the same way. Houston’s backlog is spread across a larger number of active projects. Austin’s is concentrated across a smaller set of projects.

Fort Worth ranks fifth by active backlog, with $1.28B across 202 projects, but it becomes much more prominent when change orders are added to the view.

The top of the ranking shows multiple backlog profiles.

• Dallas is the clear leader by remaining value.

• Houston has the broadest active project count among the top five.

• Austin has a Houston-sized backlog across a much smaller project base.

• Fort Worth is not the largest backlog district, but it has the highest change order percentage in the state.

That is why project count alone does not explain the active workload. The same dollar amount can be spread across hundreds of active projects or concentrated in far fewer contracts.

Statewide, approved change orders equal 5.5% of original bid value.

Fort Worth is the outlier. Its approved change orders equal 21.1% of original bid value, the highest district-level percentage in the state. It also has $641.74M in approved change orders, the largest total among all districts.

That puts Fort Worth in a different position than its backlog ranking alone would suggest.

• By active backlog, Fort Worth ranks fifth.

• By change order percentage, it ranks first.

• By total approved change order value, it also ranks first.

El Paso is another example of the difference between the two views. It ranks tenth by active backlog at $601.02M, but second by change order percentage at 11.8%.

Houston also appears in both views. It ranks second by active backlog and has $489.05M in approved change orders, equal to 7.5% of original bid value.

The active backlog ranking shows where remaining work is largest. The change order view shows where contract values have grown after award.

District totals can be shaped by a small number of large active projects.

Dallas has the largest individual active project backlog in the snapshot. CCSJ 2374-01-137, project NH 1902(389), carries $1.71B in active backlog.

Dallas also has the third-largest active project backlog: CCSJ 0009-11-254, project F 2025(365), with $768.65M remaining.

Fort Worth’s largest active project stands out in a different way. CCSJ 0008-13-125, project F 2022(675), carries $843.74M in active backlog and $451.41M in approved change orders. It is both one of the largest remaining project backlogs in the state and the largest project-level change order total in the snapshot.

Largest active project backlogs

The table is sorted by active backlog, not change orders.

That distinction matters. The Dallas projects help explain why Dallas leads the state by remaining backlog. The Fort Worth project helps explain why Fort Worth stands out in the change order view.

The active TxDOT workload is not defined by one number.

The statewide backlog is large: $20.95B.

But the distribution is uneven.

• Dallas carries the largest remaining workload.

• Houston carries more active projects than any other top-five backlog district.

• Austin has nearly the same active backlog as Houston with fewer projects.

• Fort Worth has the highest change order percentage and the largest approved change order total.

Those differences show why active backlog and change orders should be read together.

Active backlog shows where work is already stacked up.

Change orders show where active contract values have grown since award.

Together, they show the existing workload that new lettings are being added onto.