Pest Control Services
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 12,600 pest control services in the US exterminate and control the presence of unwanted creatures, such as insects, rodents, or other small animals. Companies may specialize in residential or non-residential services. Over 70% of industry revenue comes from residential services. Providers may also specialize in a particular industry, such as food manufacturing or health care.
Hazardous Substances
Pest control often involves the application of toxic chemicals that have the potential to harm humans, pets, plants, or the environment.
Government Regulation
Because pest control involves toxic substances, the EPA and state governments regulate various elements of operations, including licensing, record keeping, standards of application, training, and product registration.
Industry size & Structure
The average pest control services provider operates out of a single location, employs 10 workers, and generates over $1 million annually.
- The pest control services industry consists of about 12,600 companies that employ about 129,300 workers and generate about $16 billion annually.
- The industry is concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom; the top four firms account for about 27% of industry sales. The majority of pest control service providers are small, independent companies or franchises.
- Large companies include Rollins (Orkin) and divisions of ServiceMaster (Terminix).
Industry Forecast
Pest Control Services Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 22, 2022 - Low-income Housing Has High Infestation Rates
- Low-income housing tends to have high rates of pest infestations, according to a recent study led by Rutgers University. Based on a survey of low-income housing residents in New Jersey, the study found that 37% of homes had cockroach infestations, 20% had rodents, and 9% had bed bugs. Infestations may have worsened during the pandemic when in-home pest treatments were scaled back or postponed.
- A vast majority of pest control businesses allow technicians to take their service vehicles home every night. According to an October 2022 poll by Pest Control Technology, 83% of survey participants allow technicians to retain possession of company service vehicles after hours. Pest control companies incur some risk and excess vehicle use due to this practice, but alternatively, they don’t have to store the vehicles and risk mass break-ins or vandalism in their parking lot.
- Drones are expected to find wider use in the pest control industry, especially for outdoor applications, according to Pest Control Technology Online. Using drones for checking rooftops for evidence of rodents is likely to become more widespread. Drones can also aid technicians in detecting rodent entryways in the ceilings of large warehouses or other industrial buildings. Industry insiders suggest that drones could also one day be used for the targeted outdoor application of pest control products over a large area. However, challenges to drone adoption in the industry include high equipment costs, technician training, and tight regulations for drone use, including by the Federal Aviation Administration.
- Another emerging technology for the pest control industry is electronic rodent monitoring (ERM) which can notify a technician via a smartphone app when a rodent activates a trap or bait station. While not yet widely adopted, mainly due to high implementation costs, industry insiders suggest the technology has significant potential to increase efficiencies by eliminating time-consuming manual trap and bait checks. Electronic monitoring frees technicians to spend more time on inspection and analysis.
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