State of Local Home Services 2026 | Ownlisted Annual Report

The State of Local Home Services is Ownlisted's inaugural annual data report — a comprehensive analysis of how home-services businesses perform across 300 top US cities. This report covers seven core verticals: HVAC contractors, plumbers, pest control companies, electricians, moving companies, garage door companies, and window replacement companies.

Scope: 21,197 active businesses with Google Business Profiles, queried April 2026. Geographic coverage: 45 US states, DC, and Puerto Rico across 300 top US cities.

Why home services? Home services is a $600B+ annual market in the United States (IBISWorld, 2025), yet it is systematically under-measured compared to capital markets. No quarterly report, no SEC filings, no public data: consumers and policymakers have limited visibility into how these markets operate at a city or state level. This report is designed to fill that gap. About the research team: This study was authored by Francis Po, founder of Ownlisted.

Explore by vertical: hvacprolist.com · plumberproslist.com · pestprolist.com · electricianprolist.com · moverprolist.com · garagedoorprolist.com · windowprolist.com

The table below summarizes all seven home-services verticals covered in this report, ranked by total Google reviews tracked.

Top finding: HVAC and plumbing together account for 53% of all home-services reviews tracked — reflecting the urgency-driven, repeat-service nature of these categories. Moving companies and window replacement have the lowest average star ratings (4.69 and 4.70 respectively), suggesting more variable service experiences and lower review solicitation rates.

Vertical-specific studies: HVAC Statistics 2026 | Full industry report: hvac-industry-report-2026

The table below shows home-services coverage by state, ranked by total listings across all 7 tracked verticals.

The California–Texas split: California leads by listing count (4,114) but Texas leads by total review volume (1.66M vs. 1.36M). Texas contractors accumulate reviews at a higher per-business rate — likely reflecting the competitive, high-population markets of Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio, where service volume is highest.

Highest-rated states: Among states with ≥ 100 listings, Arizona (4.86), Colorado (4.84), and Washington (4.84) lead. Louisiana (4.72) and Georgia (4.70) have the lowest averages — potentially reflecting more variable market competition or less aggressive review solicitation practices.

The table below shows the 15 most comprehensively covered home-services cities in the Ownlisted database, ranked by total listings across all 7 verticals. All cities have full 7-vertical coverage.

Most-reviewed city: Charlotte, NC leads all tracked cities by total home-services review count with 243,733 reviews across 134 listings — driven by Charlotte's dominant regional HVAC and plumbing players. Houston follows with 220,925 reviews.

Highest review count per listing: San Antonio averages 1,276 reviews per home-services listing — the most review-intensive market in the dataset. Austin (1,381) and Columbus, OH (1,399) are similarly intensive.

Related research: HVAC Statistics 2026 | Personal Injury Statistics 2026

Market size: The US home services market generated an estimated $600B+ in revenue in 2024 (IBISWorld). HVAC alone represents approximately $17.5B in service revenue. The broader "home improvement" market including installation and repair exceeds $500B.

Employment trends: The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects strong growth across key home-services trades through 2034:

• HVAC mechanics and installers: +8% (vs. +4% all occupations)
• Electricians: +11%
• Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters: +6%
• Pest control workers: +8%

Supply constraints: Trade employment is growing, but labor shortages are documented across HVAC, plumbing, and electrical trades. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported critical shortages in 2024 and 2025 for electricians (90% of contractors reported difficulty hiring) and HVAC technicians (84%). This supply constraint is a structural driver of rating compression — consumers who find any reputable contractor tend to leave positive reviews.

Housing stock age as structural demand driver: The U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey shows the median US housing unit is over 40 years old — meaning the bulk of the housing stock predates modern HVAC efficiency standards, current electrical code requirements, and lead-free plumbing mandates. Aging housing creates non-discretionary repair demand that persists regardless of economic cycles. This is a key reason home-services employment projections remain elevated even in slower housing-construction periods.

Window and electrical replacement cycle: The DOE estimates that windows installed before 1990 perform at roughly half the thermal efficiency of current ENERGY STAR-certified products (DOE). Similarly, the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) sets the testing standards for window thermal performance that determine ENERGY STAR eligibility — meaning the measurement infrastructure for energy-driven demand is codified and stable. Both signals point to sustained replacement demand through at least 2030.

Rating compression: 80%+ of contractors across all 7 tracked verticals hold a 4.0+ star rating. This is a consistent pattern across all home-services categories. In markets with labor shortages, consumers reward any successfully completed job — the bar for a positive review is effectively "showed up and fixed it."

Related directories: Browse all home-services categories at ownlisted.com/directories.

For home-services business owners, this dataset reveals three structural dynamics that should shape operations and marketing in 2026.

1. Review volume is a competitive moat, not a vanity metric. HVAC contractors average 990 reviews per business — 3.8× the network-wide average. That concentration is not random. It reflects a customer acquisition flywheel: high review volume drives ranking in Google Maps local results, which drives more leads, which creates more opportunities to request reviews. Businesses in the bottom quartile of their vertical by review count are systematically disadvantaged in local search. The implication: soliciting reviews after every completed job is not optional — it is table-stakes competitive strategy.

2. The California–Texas split reveals two fundamentally different market models. California leads by listing count (4,114 businesses); Texas leads by total review volume (1.66M). Texas contractors average far more reviews per business. One interpretation: Texas markets are more concentrated, with fewer but higher-volume operators who have built more aggressive review solicitation systems. California's fragmentation may reflect more sole proprietors and less review-optimized operations. Operators entering a new market should benchmark local review averages — not national ones — to understand what competitive credentialing looks like.

3. Rating compression is real, but not uniform. Moving companies (4.69 avg) and window replacement companies (4.70 avg) rate meaningfully below HVAC (4.86) and garage door (4.86). The low-rated verticals share a trait: complex, high-expectation transactions with more ways for something to go wrong — delivery logistics, installation precision, weather timing. Operators in these verticals cannot assume that "showed up and fixed it" earns a five-star review. They need explicit post-job follow-up, clear communication during delays, and structured feedback channels. In high-rated verticals, average is a 4.8. In low-rated verticals, 4.7 can still be above-market. Knowing your vertical's baseline changes what winning looks like.

4. Geographic targeting should follow review intensity, not listing density. San Antonio averages 1,276 reviews per home-services listing — the highest per-business review intensity in the dataset. Austin (1,381) and Columbus, OH (1,399) show similar patterns. These are markets with high consumer engagement and high review activity. For new entrants, these markets are harder to break into but signal healthier long-term economics. Markets with low review density (Wichita at 467 avg, Grand Rapids at 887 avg) may be less contested but also signal lower consumer engagement — which affects long-term lead generation via organic search.

5. Labor shortage premium is structural, not cyclical. With 90% of electrical contractors and 84% of HVAC contractors reporting difficulty hiring, the supply constraint is not a short-term artifact of the post-pandemic labor market. It is embedded in the trade education pipeline — vocational enrollment has not kept pace with retiring tradesperson cohorts. For operators who invest in apprenticeship programs, workforce stability becomes a differentiator. Contractors who can staff reliably will capture the demand that understaffed competitors cannot fulfill. The rating data supports this: markets with demonstrably high contractor density (San Jose, Seattle, Portland) also show high average ratings, suggesting adequate supply improves service quality outcomes.