Rules and changes
Texas emissions testing by the numbers
Updated Oct 7, 2026 · sources read Oct 6, 2026 · 3 official sources quoted
Short answer
In the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas during 2022 and 2023, stations ran over 20.1 million OBD tests on over eight million vehicles, and inspectors recorded 94,372 repairs. Texas had 4,675 active emissions inspection stations in November 2023.
Tests
TCEQ must evaluate the enhanced programs every two years. Its 2024 report, prepared with Eastern Research Group (ERG), covers the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria areas only.
The DFW and HGB areas are evaluated because only the enhanced programs are required to be evaluated every two years.
This analysis was based on the two-year evaluation period, including all of 2022 and 2023.
over 20.1 million On Board Diagnostic ( OBD ) tests were performed on 1996 and newer Model Year ( MY ) light-duty passenger cars and trucks, resulting in over eight million unique vehicle OBD tests
Repairs and their cost
The report counts repairs in more than one way, so the numbers should not be mixed. 94,372 is the number of repairs recorded to bring vehicles into compliance during 2022 and 2023. The $5.4 million figure comes from an edited set of about 32,000 repairs: the cost analysis left out repairs recorded with a cost of zero, which were 64.1% of the cost records, and repairs over $2,000. So $5.4 million is not the total spent on all 94,372 repairs, and dividing one by the other gives no meaningful average.
During the evaluation period, analysis of the TIMS data indicated that 94,372 repairs were made to vehicles to bring them into compliance with the Texas I/M program.
Texas motorists spent approximately $5.4 million during this evaluation period performing 32,000 repairs so that they would be in compliance with the Texas I/M program.
According to the edited dataset, which leaves out zero cost and greater than $2,000 cost observations, vehicle owners performed 32,000 repairs while spending approximately $5.4 million.
a large percentage (64.1 %) of the repair costs in the TIMS were recorded as zero.
It should be noted that repair costs are hand-entered by the vehicle emissions inspectors, which can lead to transcription errors.
Fuel system repairs were the largest category, followed by the catch-all miscellaneous group; ignition, emissions system and engine mechanical repairs were much smaller shares. Typical repair bills were modest: with zero-cost and very large records removed, TCEQ reports median repair costs between $40 and $257 depending on the repair type.
The program requires reporting repair types according to five categories: fuel system, ignition electrical system, emissions system, engine mechanical, and miscellaneous. The fractions of total repairs in these five categories were approximately 46 %, 7% , 12 %, 2% , and 34% , respectively .
with zero repair costs and those over $2,000 removed, the median and mean repair costs ranged from $40 to $257 and $96 to $357.
approximately 85% of OBD tests that initially fail for an illuminated malfunction indicator light (MIL) with stored diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) eventually receive a passing inspection.
Stations
TCEQ’s 2024 fee analysis counts the public stations by program area. Test-and-repair shops outnumber test-only stations nearly two to one, and the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas together hold most of the state’s stations. The count fell between 2022 and 2024 in those areas, and only a minority of stations surveyed there said the capped fee covered their costs.
| Program area | Test-only | Test-and-repair | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth | 1,468 | 2,533 | 4,001 |
| El Paso | 73 | 169 | 242 |
| Austin-Round Rock | 125 | 307 | 432 |
| All | 1,666 | 3,009 | 4,675 |
Table ES-2. Number of Texas Emissions Inspection Stations in the TIMS Database by Program Area and Station Type (November 2023)
HGB/DFW 1,468 2,533 4,001
El Paso 73 169 242
ARR 125 307 432
Total 1,666 3,009 4,675
Excludes fleet and government stations. Bexar County stations were not yet in the program in November 2023.
the Texas Information Management System (TIMS) database identified 4,675 active vehicle emissions inspection stations (excluding fleet and government stations) in the four active program areas
From 2022 to 2024, the number of stations overall decreased by 574 (−12.5%) in HGB/DFW and 17 (−3.8%) in ARR but increased by 12 (5.2 %) in El Paso.
in the HGB/DFW program areas, 17% of test-only stations and 22% of test-and-repair (T&R) stations reported the emissions inspection fee covered their costs
What the numbers mean for one driver
The evaluation covers the two largest program areas only, so its totals are not statewide. Read as a whole, the figures say that most vehicles pass, that a failure for a lit check-engine light usually ends in a pass after repair, and that the typical repair costs far less than the Individual Vehicle Waiver threshold of $600. If your repair estimate is very high, the waiver rules are in emissions waivers and time extensions.
This waiver is available to a vehicle owner that has spent at least $600 ($450 in El Paso) on emission-related repairs and is still unable to pass an emissions inspection or unable to qualify for another type of waiver.
Sources
- TCEQ, 2024 Inspection and Maintenance Program Evaluationpage as published Apr 8, 2026 (archived copy), read Oct 6, 2026
- TCEQ, 2024 Fee Analysis for AirCheckTexas Vehicle Emissions Inspection Programpage as published Oct 5, 2025 (archived copy), read Oct 6, 2026
- TCEQ, Affidavit, Waivers and Extensions, and the Vehicle Inspection Reportpage as published Jun 24, 2026 (archived copy), read Oct 6, 2026
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