Insights

Government bid thresholds by state, 2026

Written by Ian, founder of Good Stuart. Reviewed September 2026. About the team

A bid threshold is the dollar figure above which a public buyer must stop calling vendors and start advertising for sealed bids. Below it, a purchasing officer can take quotes and pick; above it, the statute takes over. Every state sets its own, often separately for cities, counties, school districts and state agencies, and several now index them to inflation, which means the figure you read in 2023 is wrong.

This is the 2026 table for the 15 largest states, with the citation and the effective date, and a short explanation of why the number matters more to a vendor than to the buyer.

On this page

The short version

Thresholds are set by state law, not federal, and they differ by type of buyer within a state. A Texas city bids at $100,000; a New York village bids at $20,000 for purchases and $35,000 for public work.
Several states now index annually: Ohio adds 3 percent a year to a $75,000 base, California adjusts school district and CUPCCAA limits, Pennsylvania and Michigan publish new figures each year.
Below the threshold is where a new vendor wins first. A registered company with a certificate on file gets the $40,000 quote; the sealed bid above the line goes to whoever is lowest and responsive.
Thresholds changed in 2025 in Texas and California and change every January in at least four others. Confirm against the statute before you rely on the figure.

The table

Formal means sealed bids or proposals after public advertisement. Informal means quotes, usually three, without advertising. Where a state sets different figures for different buyers, the row says which buyer it covers. Figures are as published at the time of writing; where a state indexes annually, the mechanism is noted so you can check the current figure.

State	Applies to	Informal quotes	Formal sealed bid	Citation	Effective
California	Cities, counties, districts under CUPCCAA (public projects)	$75,000 to $220,000	Over $220,000	Pub. Contract Code 22032	Jan 1, 2025
California	School districts (goods, services)	Below threshold	$119,100	Pub. Contract Code 20111, CDE annual adjustment	Jan 1, 2026
Texas	Municipalities	$3,000 to $100,000 (HUB contact rule)	Over $100,000	Local Gov't Code 252.021, S.B. 1173	Sept 1, 2025
Texas	School districts	Below threshold	$50,000 aggregate per 12 months	Education Code 44.031	Current
Florida	State agencies (Category Two)	Below $35,000	Over $35,000	Fla. Stat. 287.017	Current
New York	Local governments	Below threshold, per local policy	Over $20,000 purchases; over $35,000 public work	Gen. Mun. Law 103	Current
Pennsylvania	Boroughs, townships, counties	Roughly $13,000 to $25,000 (three quotes)	Roughly $25,000; indexed each January by Labor and Industry	Borough Code 8 Pa.C.S. 1402 and parallel codes	Check the current published figure
Illinois	Municipalities	Below threshold	Over $25,000 unless waived by two-thirds vote (check the current figure)	65 ILCS 5/8-9-1	Current
Ohio	Villages, cities and other bodies referencing R.C. 9.17	Below threshold	$75,000 base through 2024, plus 3 percent each calendar year as published by Commerce (about $79,500 for 2026)	R.C. 9.17, 731.14	Oct 3, 2023, indexed
Georgia	Local governments (public works construction)	Below $100,000	Over $100,000	O.C.G.A. 36-91-21	Current
North Carolina	Local governments	$30,000 to formal limit (G.S. 143-131)	$90,000 goods and equipment; $500,000 construction and repair	G.S. 143-129, 143-131	Current
Michigan	School districts	Below threshold	Base adjusted annually by DTMB; low $30,000s (check the current figure)	MCL 380.1274	Each fiscal year
New Jersey	Local units (Local Public Contracts Law)	Quotes required above 15 percent of the bid threshold	$17,500 base without a QPA; up to $44,000 with a QPA as of July 2020; adjusted by the Governor every five years, most recently July 2025 (check the current figure)	N.J.S.A. 40A:11-3, 40A:11-6.1	July 1, 2025 cycle
Virginia	All public bodies (small purchase procedures)	Up to $200,000 goods and nonprofessional services; up to $80,000 professional services	Above those limits	Va. Code 2.2-4303(G)	Current
Washington	Second-class cities and towns (public works)	Small works roster up to $350,000 (RCW 39.04.155, check the current figure)	Over $75,500 single craft; over $150,000 multiple crafts; supplies over $40,000	RCW 35.23.352	Current
Arizona	State agencies	Up to $100,000 (simplified procedures)	Over $100,000	A.R.S. 41-2535	Current
Tennessee	Counties and municipalities under the 1957 and 1983 purchasing laws	Below threshold, per local policy	Up to $50,000 where the county or city has centralized purchasing and a full-time purchasing agent; lower by default	T.C.A. 12-3-1212, 5-14-101 et seq., 6-56-304	Current

Two cautions. First, home-rule cities in several states (Michigan, Ohio charter cities, some in Illinois) set their own figures by ordinance, and those can be lower than the state statute. Second, a threshold is per contract or per aggregate over a period, and the aggregation rule differs; Texas districts count $50,000 across twelve months, not per purchase.

What the number means for a vendor

Buyers read the threshold as a compliance line. Vendors should read it as two different sales motions.

Below the line is relationship selling. The facilities director needs a roof patched for $38,000, calls three companies whose certificates are on file, and issues a purchase order to the one who answers. There is no advertisement, no bid opening, no tabulation. You win by being registered, insured, known and reachable. For a new vendor this is where the first public references come from, and references are what 95 percent of formal solicitations demand.

Above the line is procedure. The agency advertises, holds a pre-bid, issues addenda, opens sealed bids in public, and awards to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder or the highest score. Nobody's relationship gets them past a missing bond. You win by being complete, compliant and priced right; see how to write an RFP response that scores.

The mistake is treating one motion as the other: chasing below-threshold work with a proposal, or expecting a formal bid to be decided by the relationship.

What changed recently

Texas doubled the municipal threshold from $50,000 to $100,000 effective September 1, 2025 (S.B. 1173), and the HUB contact rule now applies from $3,000 to $100,000. More city work now moves on quotes.
California raised the CUPCCAA limits to $75,000 and $220,000 effective January 1, 2025, and the school district bid threshold reached $119,100 on January 1, 2026 under the annual CDE adjustment.
Ohio moved most local thresholds onto a single indexed figure in R.C. 9.17: $75,000 through 2024, then plus 3 percent a year as published by the Director of Commerce.
New Jersey runs on a five-year adjustment cycle, with notice by June 1 and effect on July 1; the 2025 cycle reset the figures.
Pennsylvania and Michigan publish new municipal and school figures every year; last year's number is out of date by definition.

Thresholds only go up, and each increase moves more work below the line, where registration and relationships decide it.

How to use the table

Find your buyers' row. A roofer selling to Texas school districts needs the $50,000 aggregate figure, not the $100,000 city figure.
Split your pipeline. Work below the line goes to the quote motion: register, insure, meet the facilities director, answer the phone. Work above it goes to the bid motion: see how the government RFP process works.
Check the aggregation rule. If a buyer counts your purchases across a year, a series of small purchase orders can trip the threshold and force a bid you did not expect.
Recheck every January and September, when the California, Pennsylvania and Ohio adjustments and the Texas fiscal year land.

The buyer guides carry the per-buyer detail: how to sell to municipalities and city government, how to sell to county government, how to sell to school districts and how to sell to state agencies.

Want these found and written for you?

We track the thresholds for our clients' buyers so that quotes go out as quotes and bids go out as bids. We find the work in your trade and region, read every page, tell you which to pursue and why, and write the response. You price it and you sign it. Every response is built for one company and never reused. Book a fit call and we will map the thresholds for the buyers you actually serve.

Common questions

Is there a federal bid threshold that applies to state and local contracts?

No. The federal simplified acquisition threshold is $350,000 and the micro-purchase threshold is $15,000 under FAR 2.101, but those govern federal agencies. A local agency spending federal grant money follows the Uniform Guidance procurement standards, which use their own thresholds, and its own state law, whichever is stricter.

Can an agency split a purchase to stay below the threshold?

No. Every state statute prohibits sequential or component purchases made to avoid bidding, and auditors look for it. That is also why some states count aggregate spend over a period: Texas school districts count $50,000 across twelve months. As a vendor, expect a buyer who has spent $45,000 with you this year to bid the next job.

Where do I confirm the current figure?

The statute itself, then the state agency that publishes the adjustment: the California Department of Education for district thresholds, the Ohio Department of Commerce for R.C. 9.17, Pennsylvania Labor and Industry, Michigan DTMB, and New Jersey's Division of Local Government Services. Municipal league guides (Texas Municipal League, MRSC in Washington, UNC School of Government) are reliable secondary sources.