America's home-service economy, state by state
Plumbers, electricians, cleaners, roofers, landscapers: the trades that keep houses running are some of the most common local businesses. Here is where they show up most.
Most of the businesses people need at home never have a storefront. They arrive in a van. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, house cleaners, painters, pest control, locksmiths and landscapers make up what the data calls home services, and together they are one of the largest categories of local business in the country.
CheckThisBiz lists 565,666 home-service listings, about one in 14 of all businesses listed. A separate subcategory, building and construction services, adds another 56,079 listings, such as engineering and construction firms. We keep the two apart here, as the underlying taxonomy does.
What counts as a home service
The category is broad. To show what is inside it, here are the most common specific trades among home-service listings in California, the state with the most listings in our database.
| Trade | Listings |
|---|---|
| 7,498 | |
| 3,621 | |
| 3,233 | |
| 2,269 | |
| 2,106 | |
| 2,045 | |
| 2,010 | |
| 1,738 | |
| 1,287 | |
| 1,259 | |
| 1,242 | |
| 1,050 |
State by state
Measured as a share of each state's business listings, home services are most prominent in Connecticut, where they account for 8.9% of listings. Minnesota (8.7%) and Massachusetts (8.5%) follow. At the other end, home services make up 3.4% of listings in District of Columbia. The typical state sits near 7.5%.
A higher share does not necessarily mean more demand. Home-service businesses may list a home or mailing address rather than a shop, and they may be based in one town while serving a whole region. States with fewer large commercial centers can also show a higher share simply because there are fewer offices and stores in the total. What the chart shows is how prominent these trades are within each state's listings.
| State | Share |
|---|---|
| 8.9% | |
| 8.7% | |
| 8.5% | |
| 8.5% | |
| 8.4% | |
| 8.4% | |
| 8.1% | |
| 8.1% | |
| 8.1% | |
| 8.1% | |
| 8.0% | |
| 8.0% | |
| 8.0% | |
| 8.0% | |
| 7.9% | |
| 7.8% | |
| 7.7% | |
| 7.6% | |
| 7.6% | |
| 7.6% | |
| 7.6% | |
| 7.6% | |
| 7.5% | |
| 7.5% | |
| 7.5% | |
| 7.5% | |
| 7.4% | |
| 7.4% | |
| 7.4% | |
| 7.3% | |
| 7.3% | |
| 7.2% | |
| 7.2% | |
| 6.9% | |
| 6.8% | |
| 6.8% | |
| 6.8% | |
| 6.8% | |
| 6.7% | |
| 6.7% | |
| 6.7% | |
| 6.6% | |
| 6.2% | |
| 6.2% | |
| 6.1% | |
| 6.0% | |
| 5.7% | |
| 5.7% | |
| 5.4% | |
| 4.9% | |
| 3.4% |
The cities with the most home-service listings
By count, Houston, TX has the most home-service listings (5,956), followed by New York, NY (3,760) and Chicago, IL (2,989).
| City | Listings |
|---|---|
| 5,956 | |
| 3,760 | |
| 2,989 | |
| 2,940 | |
| 2,860 | |
| 2,760 | |
| 2,591 | |
| 2,536 | |
| 2,350 | |
| 2,344 | |
| 2,240 | |
| 2,141 | |
| 2,140 | |
| 2,123 | |
| 1,939 |
Where do the trades make up the biggest slice of local business? Among places with at least 1,500 listings, Cape Coral, FL leads at 15%.
| City | Share |
|---|---|
| 15% | |
| 15% | |
| 14% | |
| 14% | |
| 14% | |
| 14% | |
| 13% | |
| 13% | |
| 13% | |
| 13% | |
| 13% | |
| 12% |
Hiring someone to work on your home?
Home repair is also an area where consumer protection agencies regularly warn about contractors who take a deposit and never finish the job. Our guide How to check a contractor before you hire walks through licenses, insurance, contracts and payments, and you can look up any contractor on CheckThisBiz.
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