College Station vs Austin: Building Permit Fees Compared (2026)
How residential building permit fees compare across two fast-growing Central Texas markets about 100 miles apart - College Station (Brazos County, home of Texas A&M) on its FY26 Planning & Development Services fee schedule effective October 1, 2025, and Austin (Travis County) on its FY 2025-26 residential fee schedule, also effective October 1, 2025. Both schedules are current and same-vintage, so this is a clean same-cycle comparison.
Direct answer: On a same-assumption 1,000 sq ft new home, College Station's permit-side total is about $970 (build-up estimate) - building $740.00 + electrical $54.00 + mechanical $55.00 + plumbing $121.00 (12-fixture assumption) - versus about $1,842.04 in Austin (build-up estimate): $838.82 permit + $896.50 plan review + $106.72 processing. That makes College Station roughly half of Austin - about $870 less. Scope note: Austin's figure includes its separate plan-review lines; College Station prints no separate residential plan-review line, which appears bundled in its $0.74/sq ft building fee.
Key Takeaways
- New home: On the same 1,000 sq ft assumption, College Station's permit-side total is about $970 (build-up estimate, 12-fixture plumbing assumption) versus about $1,842.04 in Austin (build-up estimate) - roughly half, about $870 less in College Station.
- Same-vintage schedules: Both cities are on FY 2025-26 fee schedules effective October 1, 2025 - a clean same-cycle comparison, unlike comparisons that mix schedule vintages.
- Different structures: Austin charges five separate per-square-foot trade lines (Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Energy) plus a separate plan review and processing fee. College Station charges $0.74/sq ft for the building permit plus separate electrical, mechanical, and plumbing trade fees, and prints no separate residential plan-review line.
- Re-roof: $95 flat in College Station versus Austin's $370 roof replacement inspection - $275 less in College Station.
- Solar flips the pattern: College Station charges a flat $695 for residential solar; Austin's printed base lines total $144.13 ($32.47 Auxiliary Power intake + $111.66 electrical permit base, which already includes the 10% Austin Energy technology fee). Austin is far cheaper on solar.
- Impact fees are excluded on both sides - and College Station's are substantial: water $2,150 + wastewater $3,300 (5/8" meter), roadway $1,876.24-$4,372.88 per dwelling unit, and parkland $5,256 per single-family dwelling unit. Austin Water tap and capital recovery fees are likewise separate.
How Each City Structures Its Fees
Both cities price new homes per square foot, but they slice the bill differently. Austin charges the dwelling permit as five separate per-square-foot trade lines - Building, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, and Energy - and then bills plan review separately on its own tier table plus a $106.72 application processing fee. College Station charges $0.74/sq ft for the building permit on a new single-family home or duplex, with electrical, mechanical, and plumbing trades billed as separate line items; its FY26 schedule prints no separate residential plan-review line, so the per-square-foot fee appears to cover review (stated here as an observation from the published schedule, not an official statement). College Station's schedule is CPI-adjusted each October 1.
| Element | College Station | Austin |
|---|---|---|
| New-home permit method | $0.74/sq ft building + separate trade fees (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) | Per sq ft, tiered, five trade lines (trades bundled into the dwelling permit) |
| New-home permit (1,000 sq ft) | ~$970.00 build-up estimate (12-fixture assumption) | $838.82 (sum of 5 trade lines) |
| Plan review (new home) | No separate residential line printed (appears covered by the per-sq-ft fee) | $896.50 base + $106.72 processing |
| Remodel / addition | $0.75/sq ft ($127 min) | Tiered per-sq-ft trade lines |
| Demolition | $67.00 | $73.70 |
| Re-roof | $95.00 flat | $370.00 inspection |
| Residential solar | $695.00 flat | ~$144.13 build-up of printed base lines ($32.47 intake + $111.66 electrical base) |
| In-ground pool | Valuation-based ($40,000 pool = $301.30) | Not published as a single flat fee ($132.86 small-projects review + $67.10 standalone inspections are the printed lines) |
| Window replacement | $127.00 | No direct equivalent line published - not compared |
| Reinspection | $132.00 | $76.23 |
| Surcharges | None printed; schedule CPI-adjusted each October 1 | 10% AE tech fee on Austin Energy/solar lines only; 2.35% ($2 min) credit-card service fee via AB+C portal |
Source vintages match: College Station's figures come from its FY26 PDS fee schedule (updated September 29, 2025; effective October 1, 2025; current). Austin's figures come from its FY 2025-26 residential fee schedule (effective October 1, 2025; updated November 13, 2025; current). Impact fees are excluded from every figure in this table for both cities.
Worked Example: New Home at 1,000 sq ft
Same assumptions in both cities: a new single-family home of 1,000 sq ft, permit-office charges only. Utility, meter, and impact fees are excluded in both. The College Station plumbing line assumes 12 fixtures - a labeled assumption, since College Station bills plumbing at $40 base + $6.75 per fixture. Both totals are build-up estimates assembled from verified line items.
| Line item | College Station | Austin |
|---|---|---|
| Building | $740.00 ($0.74/sq ft × 1,000) | $289.53 |
| Electrical | $54.00 (minimum, first 1,000 sq ft) | $166.99 |
| Mechanical | $55.00 (minimum, first 1,000 sq ft) | $116.07 |
| Plumbing | $121.00 ($40 + 12 fixtures × $6.75 - assumption) | $200.43 |
| Energy | No equivalent line | $65.80 |
| Permit subtotal | ~$970.00 | $838.82 |
| Plan review | No separate residential line printed | $896.50 |
| Application processing | No separate line printed | $106.72 |
| Permit-side total | ~$970.00 (build-up estimate) | ~$1,842.04 (build-up estimate) |
Both totals are arithmetic from verified line items on each city's FY 2025-26 schedule and are labeled build-up estimates. College Station's ~$970.00 = $740.00 + $54.00 + $55.00 + $121.00; the $121.00 plumbing line depends on the 12-fixture assumption and moves $6.75 per fixture either way. Austin's ~$1,842.04 = $838.82 + $896.50 + $106.72, using its base tier (up to 1,000 sq ft); every Austin trade line and the plan-review tier step up with square footage. Scope note: Austin's total includes its separate plan-review and processing lines; College Station prints no separate residential plan-review line, so the two totals are close in scope but not perfectly identical.
Which City Is Cheaper?
- New construction: College Station. On the 1,000 sq ft same-assumption example, its permit-side total (~$970) is roughly half of Austin's (~$1,842.04) - about $870 less. Caveat: Austin's figure includes its separate plan-review lines, while College Station prints no separate residential plan-review line (it appears bundled in the $0.74/sq ft fee).
- Re-roof: College Station, $95 flat versus Austin's $370 roof replacement inspection - $275 less. See the Austin roof replacement permit guide for the full Austin picture.
- Demolition: College Station, slightly - $67.00 versus Austin's $73.70.
- Residential solar: Austin, by a wide margin. College Station charges a flat $695; Austin's printed base lines total $144.13 ($32.47 Auxiliary Power intake + $111.66 electrical permit base, the 10% Austin Energy technology fee already included). Label caveat: the Austin figure is the printed base lines, and the electrical fee is system-size-dependent.
- Pools: Methodology contrast only - no dollar-for-dollar winner can be printed. College Station uses a valuation-based schedule ($40 for the first $1,000 + $6.70 per $1,000 up to $50,000, so a $40,000 pool works out to $301.30 - see the College Station pool permit guide). Austin publishes no flat pool permit total; its printed lines are the $132.86 Small Projects Plan Review and $67.10 standalone-project inspections. The two are not directly comparable.
- Reinspection: Austin, $76.23 versus College Station's $132.00 - one of the few core lines where Austin is cheaper.
- Windows: College Station prints an itemized $127 window fee; Austin publishes no direct equivalent line, so this row is not compared.
To sanity-check a specific project against other jurisdictions we cover, run the permit fee calculator or browse the full comparison hub. For how Austin stacks up against its other neighbors, see Austin vs Round Rock and Austin vs Dallas, or compare Austin with its nearer I-35 neighbor in San Marcos vs Austin. To see College Station against a very different Texas fee model, read Baytown vs College Station.
When This Comparison May Not Apply
- Impact fees change the picture on new construction: Both cities bill impact fees separately, and they are excluded from every figure above. College Station's are itemized and substantial: water $2,150 + wastewater $3,300 for a 5/8" meter (effective January 1, 2025), roadway $1,876.24-$4,372.88 per dwelling unit (effective 2025), and parkland $5,256 per single-family dwelling unit (effective October 1, 2024). Austin Water tap and capital recovery fees plus other charges are likewise separate. On a new home, these routinely exceed the permit itself in either city.
- Scope is close, not identical: Austin bills five trade lines plus a separate plan review and processing fee; College Station separates its trades but prints no separate residential plan-review line. If College Station bills review differently in practice, its side of the worked example would shift.
- The plumbing line is an assumption: College Station's plumbing fee is $40 base + $6.75 per fixture. The worked example assumes 12 fixtures; your fixture count moves the total.
- Larger homes: Austin's trade lines and plan-review tier step up with square footage above 1,000 sq ft, and College Station's electrical and mechanical fees add $0.03/sq ft over 1,000 sq ft, so the ratio at the 1,000 sq ft floor is a snapshot, not a constant.
- Payment and indexing: Austin adds a 2.35% ($2 minimum) credit-card service fee for payments through the Austin Build + Connect portal. College Station's schedule is CPI-adjusted every October 1, so its figures reset annually.
- Estimates only: Every combined total on this page is a build-up estimate from verified line items, not an official quotation. Verify with each department before budgeting.
College Station vs Austin Permit FAQ
Is a building permit cheaper in College Station or Austin?
College Station, for most core residential work. On a same-assumption 1,000 sq ft new home, College Station's permit-side total is about $970 (build-up estimate) versus about $1,842.04 in Austin (build-up estimate) - roughly half. Re-roofs ($95 vs $370) and demolition ($67.00 vs $73.70) also favor College Station. Austin wins on residential solar ($144.13 in printed base lines vs College Station's flat $695) and reinspections ($76.23 vs $132.00).
Why is Austin's new-home figure so much higher?
Structure. Austin charges the dwelling permit as five separate per-square-foot trade lines ($838.82 combined at the base tier up to 1,000 sq ft) and then adds a separate plan review ($896.50 base tier) plus a $106.72 application processing fee. College Station charges $0.74/sq ft for the building permit with separate trade fees, and prints no separate residential plan-review line - the per-square-foot fee appears to cover review.
How much is a pool permit in each city?
College Station uses a valuation-based schedule: $40 for the first $1,000 of value plus $6.70 per additional $1,000 up to $50,000 (then $370 for the first $50,000 plus $5.35 per $1,000 up to $100,000), so a $40,000 pool works out to $301.30. Austin does not publish a single flat pool permit total - its printed lines are a $132.86 Small Projects Plan Review and $67.10 standalone-project inspections - so the two cities are not directly comparable on pools. Verify the full Austin figure with the Development Services Department.
Are these the current fee schedules?
Yes. Both cities are on FY 2025-26 schedules effective October 1, 2025: College Station's FY26 PDS fee schedule (updated September 29, 2025) and Austin's DSD residential fee schedule (updated November 13, 2025). College Station's schedule is CPI-adjusted each October 1, so expect its figures to reset annually.
What is NOT included in these figures?
Impact fees, in both cities. College Station's are itemized and large: water $2,150 + wastewater $3,300 (5/8" meter, effective January 1, 2025), roadway $1,876.24-$4,372.88 per dwelling unit, and parkland $5,256 per single-family dwelling unit. Austin bills Austin Water tap and capital recovery fees plus other charges separately, and adds a 2.35% ($2 minimum) credit-card service fee through its Austin Build + Connect portal.
How do I apply in each city?
College Station: Planning & Development Services, 1101 Texas Ave., College Station, TX 77840, 979-764-3500, cspds@cstx.gov, via the eTRAKiT portal. Austin: Development Services Department, Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Austin, TX 78752, 512-978-4000, via the Austin Build + Connect portal.
Sources
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City of College Station - FY26 PDS Fee Schedule (PDF) College Station, TX - FY26 Planning & Development Services fees; new SF/duplex building $0.74/sq ft, electrical $54 min, mechanical $55 min, plumbing $40 + $6.75/fixture, remodel $0.75/sq ft ($127 min), re-roof $95, demolition $67, windows $127, solar $695, reinspection $132, valuation-based pool schedule. Updated September 29, 2025; effective October 1, 2025; CPI-adjusted each October 1. See also the PDS department page.
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City of Austin DSD - Residential Fee Schedule FY 2025-26 (stable link) Austin, TX - FY 2025-26 residential building plan review and permit fees; five per-sq-ft trade lines (base tier sum $838.82), plan review $896.50 base + $106.72 processing, demolition $73.70, roof replacement inspection $370, reinspection $76.23, solar $32.47 intake + $111.66 electrical base. Effective October 1, 2025; updated November 13, 2025. Landing page: austintexas.gov/development-services/fees.