# Trades Business Statistics: How Many Shops, Workers and Wages (2023–2025 Data)

The U.S. had 111,207 plumbing and HVAC contractor establishments with employees in 2023, plus 83,342 electrical, 25,519 roofing, 117,969 landscaping, 67,799 janitorial and 16,535 pest control establishments (Census County Business Patterns). Most are small: 57% to 71% have fewer than five employees. Solo operators without employees outnumber them in most of these trades.

## Key takeaways

- Six home-service trades had 422,371 employer establishments and 4.48 million employees in 2023 (Census CBP).
- Small shops dominate: 58.3% of plumbing/HVAC and 70.6% of landscaping establishments have fewer than five employees.
- Nonemployer (no-staff) businesses outnumber employer establishments in HVAC/plumbing, electrical, landscaping and janitorial (Census NES 2023).
- HVAC mechanics (+10.9%) and electricians (+9.2%) are projected to grow far faster than the 3.5% average for all jobs from 2025 to 2035 (BLS).
- 56.5% of construction establishments that opened in the year to March 2020 were still open five years later (BLS Business Employment Dynamics).

## Key findings

- **Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220)** are the biggest construction trade on this list: 111,207 establishments, 1,214,761 employees and $89.5 billion in annual payroll in 2023.
- **Landscaping services (NAICS 561730)** have the most employer establishments (117,969) but the smallest crews, 6.8 employees per establishment on average.
- **Janitorial services (NAICS 561720)** employ 1,088,193 people at 67,799 establishments, and 1,095,927 more janitorial businesses operate with no employees at all.
- **Electricians earn the most of these trades at the top end:** the 90th-percentile wage is $108,510 for electricians and $108,420 for plumbers (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
- **The fastest-growing trade job is HVAC:** 10.9% projected growth from 2025 to 2035 and about 40,600 openings a year (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Roofing and landscaping are the most self-employed trades:** 19.8% of roofers and 20.2% of landscaping and groundskeeping workers were self-employed in 2025.

> **Read the years carefully**
>
> Business counts are for 2023, the latest year the Census Bureau has published for County Business Patterns and Nonemployer Statistics as of October 24, 2026. Wages are for May 2025 and projections run from 2025 to 2035. Survival rates follow businesses that opened between 2015 and 2024. Each table names its year.

## How many trades businesses are there in the US?

There were 422,371 employer establishments across the six trades below in 2023, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP). An establishment is a single physical location with paid employees, so a company with three branches counts three times, and one-person shops with no payroll aren't included here (see the next section).

**Employer establishments, employees and payroll by trade, 2023**

| Trade (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees (week of March 12) | Annual payroll | Payroll per employee |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plumbing, heating and AC contractors (238220) | 111,207 | 1,214,761 | $89.5 billion | $73,693 |
| Electrical contractors (238210) | 83,342 | 1,015,983 | $77.8 billion | $76,545 |
| Roofing contractors (238160) | 25,519 | 215,242 | $15.2 billion | $70,552 |
| Landscaping services (561730) | 117,969 | 802,899 | $41.2 billion | $51,286 |
| Janitorial services (561720) | 67,799 | 1,088,193 | $32.7 billion | $30,089 |
| Exterminating and pest control (561710) | 16,535 | 139,150 | $7.4 billion | $53,466 |

_Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (cbp23us file, all legal forms of organization). Payroll per employee is derived: annual payroll ÷ March employment. It includes office staff and salaried owners on payroll, so it is not a technician wage._

Plumbing/HVAC and electrical contractors together employ more than 2.2 million people. The two cleaning and grounds trades have almost as many workers (1.89 million) but far lower payroll per employee: $30,089 in janitorial and $51,286 in landscaping.

## How big is the typical trades business?

Most trades businesses are small. Between 56.9% (pest control) and 70.6% (landscaping) of employer establishments had fewer than five employees in 2023. That's the owner plus a tech or two, the size where one missed call or one sick day changes the week.

**Establishment size by trade, 2023**

| Trade | Under 5 employees | 5–9 employees | 10–19 employees | Share under 5 | Average employees |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plumbing, heating and AC | 64,871 | 20,587 | 13,148 | 58.3% | 10.9 |
| Electrical | 48,799 | 15,277 | 9,329 | 58.6% | 12.2 |
| Roofing | 16,661 | 3,826 | 2,566 | 65.3% | 8.4 |
| Landscaping | 83,241 | 17,046 | 9,491 | 70.6% | 6.8 |
| Janitorial | 41,548 | 10,522 | 7,308 | 61.3% | 16.1 |
| Pest control | 9,415 | 2,854 | 2,354 | 56.9% | 8.4 |

_Source: Census CBP 2023 employment-size classes. Share and average are derived. The average is pulled up by a small number of very large establishments; the typical shop is much smaller._

## How many trades businesses have no employees?

Nearly 2 million businesses in five of these trades had no paid employees in 2023, based on the Census Bureau's Nonemployer Statistics (NES), which counts businesses that file federal income tax returns but have no payroll. In HVAC/plumbing, electrical, landscaping and janitorial work, no-employee businesses outnumber employer establishments.

**Nonemployer businesses by trade, 2023**

| Trade (NAICS) | Nonemployer businesses | Total receipts | Average receipts | Employer establishments (CBP) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Plumbing, heating and AC (23822) | 178,663 | $14.0 billion | $78,389 | 111,207 |
| Electrical (23821) | 159,693 | $9.2 billion | $57,485 | 83,342 |
| Landscaping (56173) | 516,572 | $18.6 billion | $36,041 | 117,969 |
| Janitorial (56172) | 1,095,927 | $22.8 billion | $20,785 | 67,799 |
| Pest control (56171) | 16,137 | $0.87 billion | $53,739 | 16,535 |
| Roofing (238160) | Not published | Not published | Not published | 25,519 |

_Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2023 (nonemp23us file). NES publishes these trades at the 5-digit NAICS level; each 5-digit code here contains only the matching 6-digit industry. Roofing is combined with other exterior contractors (NAICS 23816) in NES, so no roofing-only count exists. Average receipts are derived and are revenue, not profit._

Many nonemployer businesses are side gigs or part-year work, which is why average receipts are low. A $20,785 average for janitorial nonemployers doesn't describe a full-time cleaning company; it describes a mix of full-time solo cleaners and people cleaning a few houses a month.

## What do trades workers earn?

Plumbers had the highest median wage of these trades in May 2025 at $63,800 a year ($30.67 an hour), just ahead of electricians at $63,190 and HVAC mechanics at $61,010, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). The median for all U.S. occupations was $50,980.

**Employment and wages by trade occupation, May 2025**

| Occupation (SOC) | Employment | Median hourly | Median annual | 10th percentile | 90th percentile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Electricians (47-2111) | 757,220 | $30.38 | $63,190 | $42,640 | $108,510 |
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (47-2152) | 465,840 | $30.67 | $63,800 | $44,150 | $108,420 |
| HVAC and refrigeration mechanics (49-9021) | 409,670 | $29.33 | $61,010 | $40,050 | $95,210 |
| Roofers (47-2181) | 135,490 | $26.65 | $55,440 | $37,460 | $81,720 |
| Pest control workers (37-2021) | 102,620 | $21.75 | $45,250 | $34,680 | $61,890 |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (37-3011) | 952,640 | $18.82 | $39,150 | $31,150 | $56,730 |
| Janitors and cleaners (37-2011) | 2,209,760 | $17.71 | $36,840 | $28,640 | $50,270 |

_Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025 national estimates (oesm25nat file). OEWS counts wage and salary jobs in all industries and excludes the self-employed, so employment here differs from the projections table below._

If you're pricing labor, the median is your market rate for an experienced tech and the 10th percentile is roughly what helpers and apprentices earn. Add payroll taxes and benefits on top with the [labor burden calculator](https://www.brix.so/tools/labor-burden-calculator) before you set an hourly rate.

## Which trades are growing fastest?

HVAC mechanics and installers are projected to grow 10.9% from 2025 to 2035, the fastest of these trades and about three times the 3.5% projected for all occupations, according to BLS Employment Projections. Electricians follow at 9.2%. Most openings come from workers retiring or leaving the field, not from growth.

**Projected employment by trade occupation, 2025–2035**

| Occupation | Employment 2025 | Projected 2035 | Change | Openings per year | Self-employed (2025) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| HVAC and refrigeration mechanics | 440,900 | 489,100 | +10.9% | 40,600 | 6.3% |
| Electricians | 821,000 | 896,900 | +9.2% | 72,700 | 7.1% |
| Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters | 510,600 | 545,200 | +6.8% | 42,000 | 8.0% |
| Pest control workers | 108,700 | 114,700 | +5.5% | 13,700 | 5.4% |
| Roofers | 166,900 | 175,600 | +5.3% | 12,000 | 19.8% |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers | 1,188,600 | 1,244,200 | +4.7% | 149,500 | 20.2% |
| Janitors and cleaners | 2,432,600 | 2,486,200 | +2.2% | 321,800 | 4.8% |

_Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, Table 1.2 (occupation.xlsx). Projections include self-employed workers, which is why 2025 employment is higher than the OEWS count. Openings are annual averages and include replacement openings._

## How many trades businesses survive?

About 56.5% of construction establishments that opened in the year ending March 2020 were still operating five years later, slightly better than the 51.4% for all private businesses, according to BLS Business Employment Dynamics. About 42.6% of construction establishments that opened in the year ending March 2015 lasted 10 years.

**Establishment survival rates by sector**

| Sector | 1 year (opened 2023–24) | 1 year (opened 2019–20) | 5 years (opened 2019–20) | 10 years (opened 2014–15) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Construction (all of NAICS 23) | 79.7% | 83.2% | 56.5% | 42.6% |
| Administrative and waste services (all of NAICS 56) | 75.7% | 79.4% | 51.5% | 37.0% |
| All private industries | 77.9% | 80.9% | 51.4% | 34.7% |

_Source: BLS Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7 (survival of private sector establishments by opening year), data through March 2025. Each opening year runs April to March ("opened 2019–20" means the year ended March 2020). BLS publishes survival by sector, not by detailed trade: construction includes all contractors, and NAICS 56 includes landscaping, janitorial and pest control along with staffing, security and waste firms._

BLS counts an establishment as surviving while it keeps reporting employees. A shop that drops to the owner alone, merges or changes ownership can show up as a closure, so survival here is about employer locations, not owners going broke.

## Methodology

**What data.** Business counts, employment and payroll come from the Census Bureau's [County Business Patterns 2023](https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html), national file. No-employee businesses come from [Nonemployer Statistics 2023](https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/nonemployer-statistics/2023-ns.html). Wages come from [BLS OEWS May 2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm) national estimates. Growth and self-employment shares come from [BLS Employment Projections 2025–35](https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm), Table 1.2. Survival rates come from [BLS Business Employment Dynamics](https://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmage.htm), Table 7.

**Which year.** CBP and NES data year 2023 (the latest published as of October 24, 2026; the Census CBP page lists 2023 as its latest data and no 2024 CBP file is posted). OEWS reference period May 2025. Projections base year 2025, projected year 2035. Survival cohorts opened in the years ending March 2015, 2020 and 2024, followed through March 2025.

**How we compiled it.** We downloaded each official file directly (the cbp23us, nonemp23us, oesm25nat and occupation.xlsx files and the BED Table 7 text files), filtered the national rows for the NAICS industries and SOC occupations listed above (CBP rows for all legal forms of organization, NES rows for all receipt sizes), and wrote every value with its source file URL into the CSV. Payroll and receipts, published in thousands of dollars, were converted to dollars. Shares, averages and payroll per employee are our arithmetic on those published values and are marked "derived" in the CSV. We did not adjust, estimate or fill in any missing value.

**Limitations.** Industries (NAICS) and occupations (SOC) aren't the same thing: an electrician working for a factory is in the wage data but not in the electrical contractor counts. NAICS 238220 puts plumbing and HVAC contractors in one industry, so the Census data can't split them. CBP counts establishments, not companies, and excludes businesses with no payroll. NES counts tax filers with receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in construction), so it includes many part-time and side businesses, and it doesn't publish roofing separately. Census applies noise infusion to CBP to protect individual businesses, so small numbers are approximate. OEWS excludes the self-employed. BLS survival rates are only published at the sector level. Census and BLS revise data; check the source pages for later releases.

## How to cite or embed this data

> **For journalists and researchers**
>
> **Cite as:** BRIX, "Trades Business Statistics," compiled from U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2023, and BLS OEWS May 2025, Employment Projections 2025–35 and Business Employment Dynamics. https://brix.so/research/trades-business-statistics (accessed [date]).
>
> **Download:** the full dataset is at [/research/trades-business-statistics.csv](https://www.brix.so/research/trades-business-statistics.csv): one row per figure, with metric, trade, NAICS or SOC code, value, unit, year, source, source URL and the date we checked it.
>
> **Reuse:** you can quote any figure or republish the tables with a link back to this page. Where you can, cite the government source in the CSV's source_url column too, since those are the primary data.
>
> **Embed a table:** copy the table HTML from this page and keep the source note under it. Please don't change the numbers or drop the year.

## What these numbers mean for a trades owner

If you run a shop with fewer than five people, you're the typical trades business, not the exception. That size also explains why the phone is the bottleneck: the person who answers it is usually the person on the roof or under the house. Growing demand for HVAC and electrical work, plus a steady stream of retirements, means good techs will stay hard to hire and expensive to keep. Price your labor off the wage tables above, and see the trade pages for [HVAC](https://www.brix.so/for/hvac), [plumbing](https://www.brix.so/for/plumbing), [electrical](https://www.brix.so/for/electrical), [roofing](https://www.brix.so/for/roofing), [landscaping](https://www.brix.so/for/landscaping), [cleaning](https://www.brix.so/for/cleaning) and [pest control](https://www.brix.so/for/pest-control) businesses.

BRIX helps small trades shops answer calls, follow up on leads and keep their books in one place, so a five-person crew can run the office without a full-time dispatcher.

- [AI receptionist](https://www.brix.so/features/ai-receptionist): Answers every call 24/7, qualifies the caller, books the job and texts back anyone it misses.
- [CRM](https://www.brix.so/features/crm): One record for every customer, lead, call, job, quote and invoice.
- [Bookkeeping and tax help](https://www.brix.so/features/bookkeeping-taxes): Keeps expenses categorized, tracks 1099 subcontractors and sales tax, and reminds you of quarterly estimated tax dates. BRIX does not file taxes or give tax advice.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many HVAC companies are in the US?

The Census Bureau counted 111,207 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments with employees in 2023 (NAICS 238220), plus 178,663 businesses in the same industry with no employees. Census doesn't split HVAC from plumbing, so no official HVAC-only count exists.

### How many electrical contractors are there in the US?

There were 83,342 electrical contractor establishments with employees in 2023, employing 1,015,983 people, according to Census County Business Patterns. Another 159,693 electrical contracting businesses had no employees, according to Nonemployer Statistics 2023.

### How many roofing companies are in the US?

Census County Business Patterns counted 25,519 roofing contractor establishments with employees in 2023, with 215,242 employees. 65.3% of them had fewer than five employees. Census doesn't publish a roofing-only count of no-employee businesses.

### How many landscaping companies are in the US?

There were 117,969 landscaping service establishments with employees in 2023 and 516,572 landscaping businesses with no employees, according to the Census Bureau. Landscaping has the smallest average crew of the trades in this study, 6.8 employees per establishment.

### What is the fastest-growing trade?

Of the trades in this study, HVAC and refrigeration mechanics have the highest projected growth: 10.9% from 2025 to 2035, according to BLS Employment Projections. Electricians are next at 9.2%. The average for all occupations is 3.5%.

### What percentage of construction businesses fail?

BLS Business Employment Dynamics shows that 56.5% of construction establishments that opened in the year ending March 2020 were still operating in March 2025, so about 43.5% had closed or stopped reporting employees within five years. After 10 years, 42.6% of the 2015 cohort survived.

### Why don't the employment numbers match between tables?

They measure different things. Census CBP counts employees of trade businesses, OEWS counts wage jobs in an occupation across all industries, and BLS projections add self-employed workers. Each table's note says which one it uses.

## Related

- [HVAC Software That Answers the Phone, Books the Tech and Keeps the Books](https://www.brix.so/for/hvac)
- [Plumbing Software That Catches the 2 a.m. Call and Gets You Paid for It](https://www.brix.so/for/plumbing)
- [Electrician Software for Panel Upgrades, EV Chargers, Permits and Progress Billing](https://www.brix.so/for/electrical)
- [Roofing CRM and AI Back Office for Roofers Who Live on the Roof](https://www.brix.so/for/roofing)
- [Landscaping Software That Handles the Office All Year](https://www.brix.so/for/landscaping)
- [Cleaning Business Software for Maid Services and Janitorial Companies](https://www.brix.so/for/cleaning)
- [Pest Control Software That Answers the Phone and Keeps the Books](https://www.brix.so/for/pest-control)
- [Labor Burden Calculator](https://www.brix.so/tools/labor-burden-calculator)
- [Job Pricing Calculator for Contractors](https://www.brix.so/tools/job-pricing-calculator)

## Download the data

- [Trades Business Statistics (Census CBP/NES 2023, BLS OEWS May 2025, BLS Projections 2025–35, BLS BED survival) (CSV)](https://www.brix.so/research/trades-business-statistics.csv)

## Change log

- 2026-10-24: First published with CBP 2023, NES 2023, OEWS May 2025, Employment Projections 2025–35 and BED data through March 2025.

## Sources

- [U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns: 2023](https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/cbp/2023-cbp.html) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [U.S. Census Bureau — CBP 2023 national data file (cbp23us.zip)](https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/datasets/2023/cbp23us.zip) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns, about the program](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/about.html) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [U.S. Census Bureau — Nonemployer Statistics: 2023](https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/2023/econ/nonemployer-statistics/2023-ns.html) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [U.S. Census Bureau — Nonemployer Statistics 2023 national file (nonemp23us.zip)](https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/datasets/2023/historical-datasets/nonemp23us.zip) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [U.S. Census Bureau — About Nonemployer Statistics](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/nonemployer-statistics/about.html) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — OEWS tables, May 2025 national file (oesm25nat.zip)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–35](https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — Employment Projections occupation.xlsx (Table 1.2)](https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occupation.xlsx) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — Business Employment Dynamics: establishment age and survival](https://www.bls.gov/bdm/bdmage.htm) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — BED Table 7, construction](https://www.bls.gov/bdm/us_age_naics_23_table7.txt) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — BED Table 7, administrative and waste services](https://www.bls.gov/bdm/us_age_naics_56_table7.txt) (checked 2026-10-24)
- [BLS — BED Table 7, total private](https://www.bls.gov/bdm/us_age_naics_00_table7.txt) (checked 2026-10-24)

Talk to BRIX: call or text (518) 588-1122, email eeharris2004@gmail.com, or book a 15-minute call at https://cal.com/ethanharris/15min.

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Written by BRIX Editorial Team. Last updated 2026-10-24.
Canonical: https://www.brix.so/research/trades-business-statistics