Home service business ideas in 2026, ranked by what trades actually earn and sell for

The short answer

Most “home service business ideas” pages are written to sell software or franchises. They list 20 to 100 trades with a sentence of startup advice each and no numbers. This page starts from the other end: what an established business in each trade actually earns, what its owner is asking for it, who does the work and why they are leaving.

We pulled every US home service and trade listing in the Main Street Index, BigIdeasDB’s census of 84,900+ businesses-for-sale listings. That is 5,800+ de-duplicated listings in 19 industries, quoted in dollars on a seller’s discretionary earnings basis. SDE is owner earnings: profit before tax plus the owner’s own pay and perks. Every figure is a median asking price or stated earnings, and anything built on fewer than 30 listings is withheld.

“Would you concentrate on HVAC/home services, or are there better ‘first acquisition’ industries I should investigate?”r/BizBuySell

Sort by earnings, price, multiple or recurring revenue, and filter by business model. “Screened” is the median multiple after removing look-alike listings that repeat identical financials across states (explained below).

As a group, US home service businesses for sale state a median $210K of owner earnings on a 25.0% margin and ask $331K, a 2.25x multiple (4,400+ listings with both figures). Remove 170+ look-alike listings and the median multiple rises to 2.33x. Filter any trade by state and budget in the buy-a-business view, or open the full industry benchmarks.

The most profitable home service businesses by owner earnings

Roofing leads the 19 trades on owner earnings at $377K median SDE, followed by kitchen and bath remodeling ($321K) and electrical contracting ($297K) (Main Street Index, US listings, October 2026). If you need to replace a salary and cover a loan, rank on dollars, not margin. Here are all 19 trades by median stated SDE.

The top of the list is all big-ticket project work. Roofing, kitchen and bath remodeling, electrical, carpentry and glass run $870K to $1.8M of revenue on thin 18% to 25% margins, and the owner’s share is large because the volume is. The bottom is the route and cleaning businesses: house cleaning ($105K) and pool service ($102K) replace a modest salary rather than make you rich.

The licensed service trades sit in the middle. HVAC ($230K) and plumbing ($228K) are nearly identical on earnings, margin and size, which is why buyers treat them as one category. For the full HVAC breakdown, including multiples by size band and state, read our guide to buying an HVAC business. For how home services compare with dental, legal and other industries, see the most profitable small businesses by real earnings.

“The technician shortage is put at around 110,000 nationally. In practice does that cap growth no matter how much capital you put in?”r/sweatystartup

The highest-margin home service businesses

Pool service keeps 75.4% of revenue as owner earnings, the highest margin of any home service trade (Main Street Index, October 2026). Owner margin is SDE divided by revenue, computed per listing and then taken as a median. It tells you how much of each dollar billed the owner keeps.

Pool service leads at 75.4% because most pool listings sell a route of weekly accounts where the buyer does the cleaning. Stated revenue ($164K) and stated earnings ($102K) are close because the owner’s labour is the main cost. That margin is real, but it is a margin on your own time. Before you price one, read buying a pool route for the price per account and the 12x billing rule.

After pool, the field is tight. Moving, security, commercial cleaning, pest control, landscaping and building maintenance all sit between 27% and 30%. Flooring is the weakest at 17.0%, because materials pass through the revenue line. Margin and earnings point in opposite directions here: pool service and commercial cleaning sit near the top of the margin list and the bottom of the price list.

The cheapest home service businesses to buy

Pool routes are the cheapest home service business to buy at a median $128K, then house cleaning ($200K) and pest control ($244K) (Main Street Index, US listings, October 2026). Here is every trade by median asking price, with the multiple next to it so you can see what the price buys.

Pool routes ($128K), house cleaning ($200K), pest control ($244K), building maintenance ($253K) and commercial cleaning ($254K) are the five cheapest ways into a home service business. Three of them also carry the highest franchise resale shares in the sector: 27.4% of pest control, 25.0% of house cleaning and 24.8% of painting listings are flagged as franchise resales (34.5% of pest control once you count franchise territories, per our pest guide). A franchise resale comes with a brand and a royalty, so compare its SDE after fees.

Cheap is not the same as a deal. Building maintenance asks just 1.39x SDE, the lowest of any trade after pool, but 50 of its listings repeat one of a few identical sets of financials across many states. Screened, it asks 1.52x. Check any listing against its peers with the free Business Price Checker before you get excited.

“A 2.4x multiple on a moving company is a massive red flag... If they’re tossing it to you for 2.4x, it’s because you’re buying a chaotic 80-hour-a-week job, not a passive investment.”r/buyingabusiness

Which home service businesses sell best? Route trades vs project trades

Every home service business sits somewhere between two models. A route sells the same visit to the same customer every week or quarter: pool, pest, lawn care, cleaning. A project trade sells a one-off job: a roof, a remodel, a paint job. Our listing data shows how sharply the two differ.

“You’re usually selling a client list ultimately.”r/smallbusiness

At one end, pool service (85.8% recurring), pest control (62.7%), HVAC (55.3%), commercial cleaning (53.5%) and landscaping (53.1%). At the other, kitchen and bath (0.0%), carpentry (0.8%), flooring (3.8%), roofing (7.3%) and painting (10.6%). HVAC appears on both sides because maintenance agreements sit on top of install and replacement work.

Recurring revenue does not command a premium in asking prices. Leaving pool routes aside, home service listings that describe recurring revenue ask a median 2.24x SDE (980+ listings), against 2.50x for project-only listings (1,700+), with look-alikes removed. Recurring listings report a slightly better margin (25.0% vs 23.0%) but smaller earnings ($219K vs $244K), and sellers price on size.

Our HVAC guide found the same thing inside one trade: listings that mention maintenance agreements ask no more than those that do not. For a buyer, that is good news. A recurring book is easier to finance, easier to keep and less exposed to a bad storm season, and you are rarely asked to pay extra for it. Count the agreements, check the renewal rate and value them yourself.

“The thing that survives a sale is a real recurring maintenance agreement base, because that relationship is with the plan, not the person.”r/sweatystartup, an operator

“Also helps to have an established list of repeat clients - so tree trimming over tree removal, for example.”r/smallbusiness

“70-85% recurring revenue. Thats not a typo. The average pest control company generates the majority of its income from monthly or quarterly service agreements.”r/buyingabusiness

Our data is a little less rosy: 62.7% of pest control listings that describe their revenue mention recurring service. Still the second-highest in home services, but not 85%. Read our pest control buying guide for the route density and licence detail.

Licence-gated trades: the barrier that keeps prices up

Plumbing (25.3%) and electrical (24.9%) listings name a specific licence most often, against under 1% for commercial and house cleaning (Main Street Index, October 2026). Some home services need nothing more than insurance. Others need a master licence held by someone who stays after the sale. The listings show it clearly.

Plumbing (25.3%) and electrical (24.9%) lead, with mentions like “master plumber license” and “electrical contractor license”. Security (17.3%), HVAC (12.8%), roofing (12.1%) and pest control (11.9%) follow. Commercial cleaning (0.6%) and house cleaning (0.9%) almost never mention one. Most listings do not spell out every licence, so read these as a floor, not a census.

Within the five licensed trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pest, roofing), listings that name a licence are a different class of business. They ask a median $899K at 3.18x SDE on $324K of earnings (250+ listings). The same trades without a named licence ask $488K at 2.58x on $246K (1,200+). The licensed group is also four times as likely to say it is SBA prequalified or eligible (15.1% vs 3.6%).

So the licence does not block SBA lending on its own. What it blocks is you, if you do not hold it. Lenders and state boards both want to know who the qualifier is after closing. Across all home services, only 5.1% of listings mention SBA prequalification or eligibility and 1.6% say a deal is not SBA-eligible; the rest say nothing, so ask early.

“Plumbing, HVAC, and electrical businesses require a master license. The SBA will require you to have an equity partner with the license. Don’t count on the seller or an existing employee.”r/buyingabusiness, a broker

Licensed trades are also among the most retirement-driven. Electrical (63.3%), plumbing (63.0%) and HVAC (61.6%) sit just behind carpentry (64.0%) on stated retirement, against the 40.6% average across all US listings. The owner selling is often the licence holder, the lead tech and the estimator at once. Our guide to buying from a retiring owner covers how to keep them through the transition.

How to buy a plumbing, electrical or HVAC business without a licence

Only 2.0% of US HVAC, plumbing and electrical listings mention a qualifier, and 1.4% say the seller will stay on the licence after closing (1,100+ listings, look-alikes removed, Main Street Index, October 2026). Another 9.0% mention licensed technicians or a master plumber or electrician on staff. In roughly nine listings out of ten, the licence plan is a question you have to ask.

The mechanics are set by the state. California’s contractors board saysevery active license must have a designated qualifier, who can be an officer of the company (a Responsible Managing Officer) or an employee (a Responsible Managing Employee). Texas licenses electricians and air conditioning contractors through one state agency. Check your own state board before you price anything. There are three ways buyers solve it:

• A licensed partner with equity. The most durable fix, because the qualifier has a reason to stay.
• A licensed employee as qualifier. Cheaper, but the business depends on one person’s job satisfaction.
• The seller stays on the licence. Fine for a transition, weak as a plan. Only 1.4% of listings offer it.

“I own an hvac and roofing company. My partners are licensed and we own 50/50. Both doing tremendous numbers. They can definitely work if you find the right people to manage them. I focus on marketing and growth only.”r/buyingabusiness, an HVAC and roofing owner

“If the business is dependent on 1–2 licensed employees, what happens if one of them quits? You could potentially lose the ability to operate until you find another qualified person.”r/buyingabusiness

The lender asks the same question. SBA 7(a) loans can fund a change of ownership up to $5 million, but the bank will want the qualifier answered before it commits, and a bonding company may size your bond on your own experience.

“The lender and the bonding company didn’t really care about any of that – they wanted someone in the ownership role who had the license right now.”r/buyingabusiness, a buyer without a trade licence

If none of the three options is available, buy a trade that rarely names a licence: commercial cleaning (0.6%), house cleaning (0.9%), pool service (4.9%), landscaping (5.6%) or painting (6.4%). Our due diligence guide lists the documents to request, including the licence record and the qualifier’s employment terms.

Is an absentee home service business possible in year one?

Short answer: rarely, and the listings agree. Of 1,800+ US home service listings that describe the owner’s role, 74.0% are owner-operated, 17.7% absentee or semi-absentee and 8.3% manager-run. Across all US-dollar listings in the Main Street Index that state a role, the owner-operated share is 53.1% (56.5% worldwide). Home services are more hands-on than the average business for sale.

Flooring (84.6%), pool service (79.8%) and building maintenance (79.1%) are the most owner-run. Moving companies are the outlier: only 37.3% owner-operated and 58.8% absentee or semi-absentee, because a moving company with crews and trucks runs on a dispatcher. HVAC (25.4%) and plumbing (22.1%) show the highest manager-run shares, but treat them with care: 41 of the 63 HVAC listings labelled manager-run share one templated “semi-passive” broker pitch, and screened for that template HVAC falls to about 15%, as our easiest small business to run study shows. Plumbing is the same story: 19 of its 25 manager-run listings are templated copies, and screened it falls to 9.5%, as our plumbing buying guide shows.

Be sceptical of “absentee” in any listing. It is the seller’s word. Our study of the easiest small business to run tests the claim across 90+ industries, our list of mistakes when buying a business covers how to test it, and owner involvement is a filter in the buy-a-business view.

“Semi-absentee is real by year two or three once you’ve put in an ops manager and systems, but buy it absentee from day one and you’ll get quietly robbed on parts, cash jobs and ghost hours before you even know the baseline.”r/sweatystartup, an operator

“Common fake add-backs are the owner car the route still needs, one-time costs that show up every year, and family payroll that is really labor.”r/buyingabusiness

Why owners sell home service businesses

Retirement is the stated reason in 63.3% of electrical, 63.0% of plumbing and 61.6% of HVAC listings, against 29.7% of pool service listings (Main Street Index, October 2026). Stated reasons for selling split the sector in two. Licensed and skilled trades retire. Route and cleaning businesses move on.

Carpentry (64.0%), electrical (63.3%), plumbing (63.0%) and HVAC (61.6%) are the most retirement-heavy trades. Pool service (29.7%), house cleaning (30.0%), commercial cleaning (32.7%) and pest control (32.8%) are the least. In house cleaning, “other business interests” (38.3%) beats retirement outright. These are younger businesses run by owners who started them as a stepping stone.

Burnout is rare everywhere, but it clusters in the route trades: pool service (6.4%) and pest control (5.2%) have the highest stated burnout shares in the sector. A route is the same stops every week, in the heat. For the full cross-industry picture, see why owners sell their businesses.

“Feeling the burn out been doing this trade for 12 years want to explore other opportunities”business-for-sale listing

“Looking to simplify our lives and spend more time with the family.”business-for-sale listing

“Time to Retire and hand off the baton to the next one.”business-for-sale listing

If PE is buying home services, what is left for an individual buyer?

Home services are the busiest corner of small business private equity. Platforms buy a large HVAC, plumbing or landscaping company, then bolt on smaller ones. That shapes what is left for an individual buyer.

“If PE is a quarter of the deal flow, what’s actually left for an individual buyer? Am I looking at the businesses that got passed over, and is that always for a reason?”r/sweatystartup

We cannot see who buys, only how sellers pitch. 6.5% of US home service listings use roll-up language such as “platform”, “add-on acquisition”, “strategic buyer” or “private equity”. The share is highest in electrical (11.9%), kitchen and bath (11.5%), plumbing (9.0%), landscaping (8.8%) and HVAC (8.4%), and lowest in house cleaning, pest control and pool service. Sellers in the licensed trades know a financial buyer may be in the room.

“PE wants clean books, a million-plus in EBITDA, and ideally a GM already running it so the deal isn’t the owner. Below that threshold there’s a big field of shops that are too small for a platform and where the owner still is the business.”r/sweatystartup, an operator

Our numbers match that. The median home service listing states $210K of SDE, far below the $1M-plus EBITDA a platform wants, and 74% of those that describe the owner’s role are owner-operated. Most of the market is too small and too owner-dependent for private equity. That is your field.

“PE firms are paying 11-14x EBITDA for landscaping platforms while you can buy the same businesses at 3x.”r/buyingabusiness

That spread is the real opportunity. Platforms pay up for size, systems and a management team, not for a $206K-SDE landscaping company with an owner on the mower. The median landscaping listing asks 2.50x SDE. If you buy small, professionalize it and build it toward platform size, you are positioned on the right side of that spread. Just do not expect to win the $2M-SDE HVAC company at a small-business multiple. Our landscaping buying guide shows the multiples by size band.

“ton of consolidation in pest control, termite and fertilizing services”r/smallbusiness

The look-alike listings that distort trade benchmarks

Home services have a problem other sectors do not: 170+ US listings repeat identical SDE and revenue figures in at least three listings across two or more states. They ask a median of just 1.05x SDE, less than half the sector median. We cannot tell whether each set is a franchise model unit, a packaged start-up or a marketing template. We can say the same earnings cannot be true for a shop in two states at once.

The effect is large where it matters most. In HVAC, removing 41 look-alikes lifts the median multiple from 2.42x to 2.71x, exactly the screened figure in our HVAC guide. In plumbing, 25 look-alikes pull it from 2.65x down to 2.36x. In building maintenance, one set of 25 listings across 20 states states the same $800K of SDE on a $140K asking price. Pest control has a different kind of look-alike (near-identical, not identical), and our pest guide’s own screen lifts its multiple from 2.30x to 2.48x.

The practical rule: if a home service listing asks around 1x SDE, search its revenue and SDE figures before you call the broker. A real bargain will survive that search. Every other figure on this page uses all listings unless marked “screened”, so you can see both.

How much is a home service business worth? Size sets the multiple

Home service multiples rise with size: 2.06x for $100K to $250K of SDE, 2.52x for $250K to $500K, 3.22x for $500K to $1M and 3.76x above $1M (4,200+ US listings, look-alikes removed, Main Street Index, October 2026). Larger businesses have managers, crews and systems, so the earnings depend less on the owner.

Trade medians mix small and large businesses, so compare a listing with both its trade median and its size band before you call the price high or low. A $175K-SDE shop in a trade with a 2.7x median may be priced fairly at 2.1x. The jump from 2.52x to 3.76x is also the private equity spread described above: the reward for building a business that runs without you.

What is a home service business with $1 million in sales worth? Across 870+ US listings with $750K to $1.25M of revenue, the median asks $445K, or 0.46x revenue and 2.13x SDE, on $225K of stated earnings. The middle half asks $268K to $728K. That spread is why revenue is a weak pricing guide in home services: margins run from 17.0% in flooring to 75.4% in pool service. Price on SDE, then test the loan with our ROI guide.

Where home service businesses are for sale, and where they ask the most

Florida alone holds 990+ of the 5,800+ US home service listings (17.0%), and Florida, Texas, California, Arizona and Nevada together hold 41.2% (Main Street Index, October 2026). Asking multiples vary more by state than most trade differences.

Owner earnings barely move across states: the median sits between $171K and $250K everywhere with enough listings. The asking multiple moves a lot. New York asks 2.88x on $250K of SDE, while Ohio and Tennessee ask 1.67x and Alabama 1.57x on $189K to $217K. On a $210K-SDE business, that gap is roughly $250K of purchase price for the same earnings. If you can live in or manage from a lower-multiple state, your SBA loan buys more.

The mix differs too. Pool service is 21.9% of California’s home service listings, 15.5% of Florida’s and 13.7% of Arizona’s, which pulls those states’ medians down. Licensed trades are the largest share in Massachusetts (28.2%), Colorado (27.8%) and North Carolina (27.4%). Texas has the lowest median earnings of the large markets ($171K) and asks 2.20x. Filter any state in the live listings or check how complete each region is on the coverage page. For local businesses beyond the home trades, compared across all four US regions, see local business ideas that pay in every region.

Profiles: route and recurring home service businesses

Each profile carries the same ten fields. “Screened” multiples exclude look-alike listings.

Profiles: licensed service trades

These are the trades the “buy an HVAC company” crowd talks about: emergency calls, maintenance agreements and a licence requirement. They sit in the middle on price and multiple and at the top on retirement exits.

“It’s all about your ability to generate leads. Doesn’t matter what you know or how much you know or how good you are at it. It’s just a marketing business with extra steps”r/sweatystartup, a licensed HVAC contractor

Profiles: project trades

Big tickets, big revenue, almost no recurring income. These businesses earn the most and depend most on the sales pipeline the owner built. The last four (carpentry, glass, flooring and interior design) are the smaller finishing trades.

Which home service business makes $1,000 a day?

$1,000 a day is about $365K a year. Across 4,400+ US home service listings that state earnings (look-alikes removed), 22.9% report SDE of $365K or more. Those businesses ask a median $1.8M.

• Roofing: 50.5% of listings at $365K+ SDE
• Kitchen and bath remodeling: 44.7%
• Electrical contracting: 41.0%
• Interior design: 35.4%
• Security and alarm services: 34.1%
• Plumbing: 30.1%
• HVAC: 29.7%
• Pest control: 11.7%; pool service: 9.0%; house cleaning: 3.9%

Two caveats. SDE is before debt payments, so a $1.8M purchase on an SBA loan eats a large share of that $1,000 a day. And SDE includes the owner’s own pay, so if you hire a general manager, subtract their salary. For the lower bar, see what business makes $10,000 a month, which most home service trades clear at the median. For every industry, not just the trades, see what business makes $1,000 a day.

“You need $500k+ EBITDA minimum to cover debt service and replace a salary. Any more than $1mm and you’re competing with lower middle market PE.”r/Entrepreneur

Thinking of starting a home service business instead?

Before you start one, see what it sells for. The trades that are cheapest to buy are also the easiest to start, and the data shows why.

• Commercial and house cleaning: under 1% of listings name a licence, 37% to 40% are home-based, and an established company sells for a median $200K to $254K. You can start with supplies and insurance.
• Pool service: 4.9% name a licence, 67.8% home-based, and a working route sells for $128K at about 1x earnings. Start with a truck and a few accounts, or buy a small route and grow it.
• Painting and handyman: 5% to 6% name a licence, 27% to 39% home-based, $218K to $220K median SDE once established.
• Landscaping and lawn care: 5.6% name a licence, 28.1% home-based. Equipment costs more, but recurring mowing contracts are the most sellable thing you can build.

The licensed trades (plumbing, electrical, HVAC) are the reverse: expensive to start because you need years of apprenticeship or a licensed partner, and expensive to buy because sellers know it. If you hold the licence, starting is the cheapest path. If you do not, buying is.

“Go work for an hvac company for two years and then get your license, quit the job and start your own. Difficult but rewarding”r/sweatystartup

“I think you’d have an advantage if you picked something with recurring revenue like pool cleaning or lawn mowing.”r/sweatystartup

With little money, the answers on Reddit converge on the same unlicensed trades. In a top r/smallbusiness thread asking for the best business at $1K, $5K, $10K, $20K and $50K, the highest-voted reply gave the same answer for every budget, and the runner-up started lawn care without owning a mower. Our data cannot price a start-up, but it shows what those businesses are worth once established: a median $206K of SDE for landscaping and $102K for a pool route. For costs, see how much it costs to start a business and how to start a business with no money.

“My answer for all of these is the same: pressure washing.”r/smallbusiness

“$1K, lawn/yard care. These are the tools when we first started. No lawnmower, trailer or truck.”r/smallbusiness

Operators also name niche trades we cannot measure as their own industry, such as garage door repair, gutters and dryer vent cleaning. They are cheap to start, but there is no established resale market for them in the listings yet, so the exit is unproven. And every cheap-to-start service has the same weakness:

“It doesn’t take long for them to go to the client with the old “I can do this for you directly a little bit cheaper”.”r/sweatystartup, a cleaning business owner

“Population and demographic size is the issue there, not the business. 100k people is a one man operation.”r/sweatystartup

Whatever you start, the exit math is on this page: a route trade sells for about 1x to 2.5x earnings, a project trade for 2.3x to 2.9x. For starter-sized ideas backed by customer complaints, see our service business ideas drawn from real customer pain. For the buy side across every industry, see the best businesses to buy, and for budget bands see low-cost business ideas with high profit.

How to check a specific home service business

1. Pick the model first. Decide whether you want a route (recurring visits, lower price, lower ceiling) or a project trade (bigger tickets, bigger price, lumpier revenue).
2. Solve the licence. In plumbing, electrical, HVAC and pest control, find out who will hold the licence after closing before you make an offer.
3. Compare the multiple to the trade. Divide the asking price by stated SDE and compare it with the trade median on this page. Far below the median is a verification job, not a bargain.
4. Screen for look-alikes. Search the SDE and revenue figures. If the same numbers appear in other states, ask for this location's own tax returns first.
5. Check who does the work. Ask how many hours the owner works in the field. In 74% of home service listings that say, the owner is the operator.
6. Pull live comparables. Filter the Main Street Index to the trade, your state and your budget, then compare a specific listing to its peers.

The Main Street Index does steps 3 to 6 for you. Open a trade in the industry view (for example HVAC, plumbing, pool service or landscaping), browse live listings, or filter by budget, owner role and seller financing in the buy view. Our help guide on how to buy a business with the Main Street Index walks through it, and the Main Street Index MCP tools put the same data inside Claude or ChatGPT. To model the loan, use the free ROI calculator and the break-even guide.

What this data cannot tell you

• Asking, not closing. Every price and multiple is what the seller asks. Deals usually close below asking.
• Stated, not verified. SDE and revenue are the seller’s figures. At the small end, they often include the owner’s own labour as a technician.
• Look-alikes are screened, not solved. Our screen catches exact repeats. Near-identical templates (as in pest control) need a hand check.
• Licences, owner role and revenue model are text-extracted from descriptions and reported only as shares of listings that state them. Licence shares are a floor.
• No startup cost data. We measure established businesses, not what it costs to start one.
• Some trades are missing. Septic, garage doors and restoration have no industry of their own in our taxonomy. Septic has a hand-built study in our septic business guide.
• State is the listing’s stated location. Some sources split states into regions; we merged California’s. A business listed in one state may serve a metro across a state line.
• Licence-holder shares are a text search, so a listing that solves the licence without saying so counts as silent.
• One snapshot. No trend claims.

Methodology

Population. De-duplicated US listings in the Main Street Index, quoted in USD on a seller’s discretionary earnings basis, classified into the 18 industries of the Home and Trade Services sector plus moving and storage. 5,800+ listings, of which 4,400+ state both a price and SDE.

Measures. Medians of asking price, SDE and revenue; multiple as the median of per-listing asking price / SDE; owner margin as the median of per-listing SDE / revenue; owner role, revenue model, licences and SBA status from an accuracy-gated description model, reported as shares of listings that state them; seller financing, home-based and franchise resale from site labels; stated reasons normalized into categories, excluding non-answers and non-owner exits. Figures with n under 30 are withheld.

Look-alike screen. A listing is flagged when its exact SDE and revenue repeat in three or more listings in the same industry across two or more states. 170+ flagged. Pest control’s screened multiple uses the narrower look-alike rule from our pest control guide.

Size, state and licence cuts. SDE bands, state medians and the licence-holder shares use screened listings only. State medians cover states with 60+ listings that state price and SDE; California regions are merged into one state. Licence-holder shares come from a text search of 1,100+ HVAC, plumbing and electrical descriptions for qualifier, licensed-staff and seller-stays-on-licence language.

Related research

Go deeper on one trade with our guides to HVAC, pest control, landscaping and septic. If you are weighing an equipment-heavy route business instead, compare buying a laundromat. For every industry side by side, start with the most profitable small businesses or the best business to start or buy by budget, then decide what business to start. For more ideas beyond the trades, see business ideas with real earnings data.

Frequently asked questions