Markup calculator: Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark
The median published figure in the Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark is 25.30 percent across 2 sources' own pages (range 20.70 to 29.90 percent), read 12 October 2026.
Markupbird sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
2 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 13 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 25.30 percent across 2).
By trade
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| traderemodeling | 29.9% | 29.9 to 29.9% | 1 |
| tradehome | 20.7% | 20.7 to 20.7% | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAHB Eye on Housing: remodeler profit margins 2024 | 29.9% | remodeling | 2026-10-12 |
| NAHB: Cost of Doing Business study (builders) | 20.7% | home | 2026-10-12 |
The sentence each figure was read from (2)
- NAHB Eye on Housing: remodeler profit margins 2024, read 2026-10-12:
The average gross margin in 2024 (29.9%) marked a return to gross profitability levels at par with 2018 (30.1%).
- NAHB: Cost of Doing Business study (builders), read 2026-10-12:
The average gross profit margin increased from 18.2% in 2020 to 20.7% in 2023.
Read in full, publishes no figure
13 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- IRS SOI corporation source book (by NAICS), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- IRS SOI historical data tables, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Census SUSB (firms by NAICS and size), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Census Annual Business Survey, read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Census construction spending (C30), read 2026-10-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- BLS OOH: cost estimators, read 2026-10-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS industry at a glance: construction, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OES: roofing contractors (NAICS 238160), read 2026-10-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OES: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters, read 2026-10-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- BLS OES: electricians, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- NAHB: home remodeling profit margin, read 2026-10-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- Jobber Home Service Economic Reports, read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Jobber Home Service Trends Report, read 2026-10-12: every candidate on the page was refused
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
2 of the 15 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 13 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 51 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): markup required to reach a target margin, derived per trade from PUBLISHED industry economics rather than from a rule of thumb: receipts against cost of goods sold by NAICS from the IRS corporation source book and Census SUSB give the implied gross margin of each trade; BLS occupational wages give the labour rate that goes into the cost side; NAHB's cost-of-doing-business studies give the builder and remodeler margins to check it against - and the derivation nobody publishes is the markup-to-margin table BY TRADE, with the gap between the trade's actual reported margin and the 'industry standard' markup contractors are told to use
51 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (15)
- IRS SOI corporation source book (by NAICS)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS SOI historical data tables(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Census SUSB (firms by NAICS and size)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Census Annual Business Survey(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Census construction spending (C30)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OOH: cost estimators(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS industry at a glance: construction(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OES: roofing contractors (NAICS 238160)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OES: plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- BLS OES: electricians(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- NAHB: home remodeling profit margin(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- NAHB: Cost of Doing Business study (builders)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- NAHB Eye on Housing: remodeler profit margins 2024(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Jobber Home Service Economic Reports(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Jobber Home Service Trends Report(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
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The median published figure in the Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark is 25.30 percent across 2 sources' own pages (range 20.70 to 29.90 percent), read 12 October 2026.
2 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 13 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark, trade remodeling: median 29.90 percent across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark, trade home: median 20.70 percent across 1 source, read 12 October 2026.
The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 25.30 percent across 2).
Cite as: "Markupbird Contractor Markup Margin Benchmark", updated 2026-10-19, https://markupbird.com/datasets/contractor-markup-margin-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (2 rows, computed 2026-10-19)