Electrical Contractors
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 77,500 electrical contractor firms in the US provide electrical installation, repair, and maintenance work. They handle wiring, lighting, networking, fire and safety equipment, and energy management systems, among other tasks. Much of the work is installation and repair of residential electrical wiring. Contractors must buy materials and then install them according to code in homes and other buildings.
Liability for Damages
Oftentimes builders or general contractors will try to cut corners, directing ECs to take shortcuts that violate code.
Demand Dependent on Construction Activity
Contractors can market new services such as design work during periods of low demand, but new construction ultimately drives the industry.
Industry size & Structure
An average electrical contractor has 14 employees and does $2.2 million in annual revenue.
- Overall, the electrical contractor industry has $173 billion in annual revenue and 1.1 million employees.
- Segments include power installation, telecommunications setup, fire and safety systems.
- 88% of establishments have fewer than 20 employees.
- About 41% of establishments do less than $500,000 a year in business.
- Large firms include Emcor Group (CT), Integrated Electrical Services (TX), and Rosendin Electric (CA).
Industry Forecast
Electrical Contractors Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 10, 2025 - Solar, Battery Storage to Lead 2025 Electricity Generation Growth
- US electricity generation capacity additions in 2025 are expected to be led by solar and battery storage projects, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The US is projected to add 63 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity in 2025, led by utility-scale solar with 32.5 GW, followed by battery storage (18.2 GW), wind (7.7 GW), and natural gas (4.4 GW). Additions in Texas (11.6 GW) and California (2.9 GW) will account for nearly half of the solar capacity additions in 2025. Other states that are expected to have significant upticks in solar additions in 2025 include Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, and New York.
- The total value of nonresidential building construction starts decreased 18% in January 2025 from December, according to Dodge Construction Network. Commercial starts fell 41% amid weak office and hotel construction starts. An uptick in healthcare and recreational projects helped drive a 4% rise in institutional starts, while manufacturing starts were down 16%. January’s nonresidential building starts were off by 22% compared to a year earlier. Dodge’s associate director of forecasting Sarah Martin said, “After robust data center starts in November and December, total office starts fell back in January to more historically typical levels and drove a sizable piece of the month-to-month decline. However, most nonresidential sectors saw weakness over the month. Ongoing labor shortages and high material costs will continue to pose risks to the sector, along with concerns over tariffs and stricter immigration enforcement. Projects are likely to continue moving through the planning queue slowly, until the Federal Reserve resumes cutting rates in the back half of the year.”
- Multifamily developers’ outlook has improved over the past year, but several challenges persist, including high interest rates and supply chain issues, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Multifamily Market Survey for Q4 2024. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) rose seven points in Q4 2024 to 48 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. The Multifamily Occupancy Index rose four points to 81 over the same period. An MPI or MOI reading of 50 or more indicates that multifamily production or occupancy, respectively, is growing. The NAHB expects the multifamily construction sector to remain weak in the first half of 2025 but gain steam toward the end of the year, supported by a strong labor market.
- In a January White House press conference, Oracle, OpenAI, and Softbank announced a joint venture deal dubbed Stargate that will invest $100 billion to build 10 new data centers in support of growing demand for AI, according to Construction Dive. The Stargate initiative includes the option to scale further to 20 data centers at a total cost of $500 billion. The data centers - one of which is already under construction in Texas – will be about 500,000 square feet each. The location and estimated construction start dates for the remaining data centers were not disclosed during the press conference. President Trump said he will help expedite the project’s timelines to ensure the US maintains leadership in the rapidly advancing AI market.
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