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How do HVAC contractors in Texas get more customers from Google and AI search?

Facts checked November 8, 2026 by Ansh Singh

Short answer: HVAC Contractors in Texas get found online with a website that shows their license number, names the towns they serve such as Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, and collects real local reviews. Licensing runs through the TDLR Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Program. The state had 8,704 businesses with staff in this Census category in 2022.

Do HVAC contractors need a license in Texas?

In Texas, the licensing body for this work is TDLR Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Program.

License or registration types named by the state: ACR Contractor Class A; ACR Contractor Class B; ACR Technician registration.

• Installing, repairing or maintaining air conditioning, refrigeration or heating needs a TDLR license.
• Companies must employ a licensed contractor at each permanent location.
• Small portable or self-contained ductless units of three tons or less are exempt. Mini-splits are not.

Homeowners can check a license on the state lookup page. Put your number where they will look for it.

License numbers in ads and on websites

Electrical: ads, cards, proposals and invoices must show contractor name and license number (16 TAC 73.51(e)). Vehicles show the number preceded by TECL. HVAC: ads must include the licensee's license number (16 TAC 75.71(h)), per Cornell LII text seen in search.

What does a year of HVAC company work look like in Texas?

Publish each seasonal page four to six weeks ahead.

Temperatures: NOAA NCEI nClimDiv statewide data. Job column: our planning suggestion, not survey data.

How many heating and air conditioning contractors compete in Texas’s main cities?

Competition is tightest around Fort Worth (Tarrant County), with one business for every 3,550 residents, and loosest around San Antonio, at one per 4,142.

Source: US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 and County Population Estimates 2023. Counts businesses with paid employees only.

How many heating and air conditioning contractors are in Texas?

The Census Bureau counted 8,704 businesses with employees in Texas in 2022, in the category “Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors”. That ranks Texas 3rd of 50 states, one of the largest markets in the country, and 8% of the US total. 77% of them have fewer than 10 staff, and 986 have 20 or more.

Together they employ 101,164 people, with an average yearly payroll of $763,011 per business. The three busiest counties hold 29% of them, so the work is spread across the state.

With 30,503,301 residents (Census, July 2023), that is one business for every 3,505 people, against 3,051 nationally: more residents per business than the US average, so each business has more homes to serve.

Texas next to its neighbors

Counties with the most heating and air conditioning contractors

174 of Texas’s counties have at least one. Source: US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022.

How big are they?

Businesses by number of employees, 2022: 4,839 with 1-4 staff, 1,825 with 5-9 staff, 1,054 with 10-19 staff, 649 with 20-49 staff, 337 with 50+ staff.

Where Texas is growing

New homes and new owners bring new work. Texas's population changed +4.3% from July 2020 to July 2023. The fastest-growing counties with 50,000 or more people:

• Kaufman County: 185,690 people, +26.2% since 2020, 88 heating and air conditioning contractors
• Rockwall County: 131,307 people, +20.3% since 2020, 59 heating and air conditioning contractors
• Comal County: 193,928 people, +18.5% since 2020, 82 heating and air conditioning contractors
• Liberty County: 108,272 people, +17.1% since 2020, 25 heating and air conditioning contractors
• Parker County: 173,494 people, +16.0% since 2020, 82 heating and air conditioning contractors

Source: US Census Bureau, County Population Estimates, Vintage 2023.

Which code applies in Texas?

Texas has no single statewide edition of the mechanical code. Cities and counties adopt their own, so say which edition applies in the towns you serve.

What should a Texas HVAC company website show?

• Your license or registration number where people can see it, even where the state does not require it in ads.
• A service area list that names real counties and towns, for example Harris County, Dallas County and Tarrant County.
• Seasonal pages published before February, so they are found when demand starts.
• Real reviews from local jobs, with the town named, and photos of your own work.

Texas questions

Who licenses HVAC contractors in Texas?

TDLR Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Program. Installing, repairing or maintaining air conditioning, refrigeration or heating needs a TDLR license. Companies must employ a licensed contractor at each permanent location.

How many heating and air conditioning contractors are there in Texas?

The US Census Bureau counted 8,704 businesses with employees in Texas in 2022 in the category Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors, and 77% of them have fewer than 10 staff.

Which county in Texas has the most heating and air conditioning contractors?

Harris County, with 1,184 businesses with employees in 2022 (Census County Business Patterns).

Do I need my license number on my website in Texas?

Electrical: ads, cards, proposals and invoices must show contractor name and license number (16 TAC 73.51(e)). Vehicles show the number preceded by TECL. HVAC: ads must include the licensee's license number (16 TAC 75.71(h)), per Cornell LII text seen in search.

When is the busiest season for HVAC contractors in Texas?

Texas’s statewide average runs from about 47°F in January to about 83°F in July (NOAA, 1991 to 2020).

Sources

• US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (state and county files)
• US Census Bureau, City, Town and County Population Estimates, Vintage 2023
• NOAA NCEI, nClimDiv statewide temperature and degree days, 1991 to 2020
• https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/acr/
• https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/acr/acrfaq.htm
• https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/electricians/elecfaq.htm
• https://www.houstonpermittingcenter.org/news-events/2026-national-electrical-code-effective-september-1-2026
• https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/news/rulemaking/2026/09/01/commission-adopts-rules-12/