Trades Business Revenue Benchmarks 2026
Revenue benchmarks for trades businesses need sub-industry context to be useful. A plumbing company running service calls out of two vans and an HVAC company doing $3M in commercial installs are both “trades” but share almost nothing operationally. Aggregate numbers across trades are misleading, and misleading benchmarks are worse than no benchmarks at all.
These benchmarks break the trades into four sub-industries - plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and landscaping - because the revenue profiles, seasonality, and margin structures are genuinely different. All data reflects the $300K-$3M band from 160+ structural analyses.
2026 Revenue Benchmarks by Trade
Plumbing
| Level | Revenue | Revenue/Truck | Service Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Struggling | Below $400K | Below $200K | Mostly emergency/one-off calls |
| Average | $500K-$800K | $250K-$300K | 55-60% service calls |
| Healthy | $800K-$1.5M | $300K-$425K | 60-65% service, growing maintenance base |
| Best-in-Class | $1.5M-$2.5M | $425K-$550K | 65% service + 15%+ maintenance agreements |
Plumbing is the least seasonal trade and the most resistant to economic downturns. Pipes break regardless of market conditions. That stability is reflected in the revenue benchmarks - plumbing companies have tighter ranges and fewer catastrophic dips than other trades.
HVAC
| Level | Revenue | Revenue/Truck | Install % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Struggling | Below $400K | Below $200K | Above 50% install (margin-dilutive) |
| Average | $500K-$1M | $250K-$350K | 35-40% install |
| Healthy | $1M-$2M | $350K-$450K | 30-35% install + 20%+ maintenance |
| Best-in-Class | $2M-$3M | $450K-$600K | Below 30% install, 25%+ maintenance agreements |
HVAC has the highest revenue ceiling in residential trades due to equipment sales - an $8K-$15K system install in a single transaction. But that ceiling is misleading because install revenue carries 30-40% gross margins (material costs eat the rest), while service and maintenance carry 50-60%. The HVAC company with the most impressive top-line number isn’t necessarily the most profitable.
Electrical
| Level | Revenue | Revenue/Truck | Avg Project Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Struggling | Below $300K | Below $180K | Below $400 |
| Average | $400K-$700K | $220K-$300K | $500-$2,000 |
| Healthy | $700K-$1.2M | $300K-$400K | $1,000-$3,500 |
| Best-in-Class | $1.2M-$2M | $400K-$500K | $2,000-$5,000+ |
Electrical has a smaller typical footprint than plumbing or HVAC but is seeing upward revenue pressure from two growing categories: EV charger installations and panel upgrades. Both are higher-ticket items ($2K-$5K+) that are pushing average project values up for electrical companies that position for them.
Landscaping
| Level | Revenue | Revenue/Crew | Maintenance % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Struggling | Below $200K | Below $120K | Below 20% |
| Average | $300K-$600K | $150K-$250K | 25-35% maintenance |
| Healthy | $600K-$1.2M | $250K-$350K | 35-45% maintenance |
| Best-in-Class | $1.2M-$2M | $350K-$500K | 45-55% maintenance |
Landscaping has the most extreme seasonality in the trades - 70-80% of revenue earned in 7-8 months. Revenue benchmarks must account for this: a $600K landscaping company earns what a year-round trades business earns at $700K-$800K on a per-month basis during peak season.
Revenue per Truck: The Universal Metric
Across all trades, revenue per truck is the single most diagnostic metric. It captures pricing, utilization, dispatch efficiency, and average ticket in one number.
| Level | Revenue/Truck | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Under-performing | Below $200K | Poor dispatch, low ticket, or insufficient demand |
| Below average | $200K-$250K | Room to improve on multiple fronts |
| Healthy | $300K-$425K | Solid operations |
| Best-in-Class | $425K-$550K | Optimized pricing, dispatch, and utilization |
A company running 4 trucks at $200K each ($800K total) is structurally weaker than a company running 2 trucks at $400K each ($800K total) - same revenue, half the overhead, roughly twice the margin. The Revenue per Person Calculator models this at the individual level.
The Growth Wall
Trades businesses hit a revenue wall that’s more physical and more visible than any other industry. The wall appears when owner capacity maxes out - typically between $300K-$500K for a solo operator. Revenue beyond that point requires hiring technicians, and the first hire almost always creates a temporary margin dip as revenue-per-truck drops while management overhead increases.
The $45K-$75K fully loaded cost of a technician creates a revenue threshold: each tech needs to generate $150K-$200K in revenue to cover their cost and contribute to overhead and profit. If a new truck runs below $200K in its first year, the hire is margin-negative. If it runs above $300K, the math works.
Getting through this wall is the subject of the full trades benchmarks analysis - including the systems (dispatch, estimating, quality control) that separate trades businesses that break through from the 60-70% that stall permanently.