Interiors
Interiors sits 3rd of 6 in interiors and finishes on net profit, and it carries leaner overhead than the 48-trade average. Here is every figure, across all 7 revenue bands.
Interiors by revenue band
| Metric | $1M–$5M | $5M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M–$50M | $50M–$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ | CFOS target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 13% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 12% |
| Gross margin | 19% | 21% | 22% | 23% | 25% | 26% | 28% | 22% |
| Net profit | 6% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 16% | 18% | 20% | 10% |
- 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker, Executive Summary, Construction Financial Management Association, 2024. The survey puts gross profit margin at 21.8%, SG&A at 11.8%, and net income before taxes at 6.3% across all respondents. The best-in-class top quartile reaches 11.9% net income before taxes. Those figures are the whole-population reading, so a single trade can sit well either side of them.
- 2025 Performance Benchmarks, Construction Companies, Jones Maresca and Company, 2025. This study reports specialty contractor gross margin between 15% and 25%. It puts net profit at 5% to 8% for a well managed company, and total indirect cost between 8% and 15%. The indirect cost band is the one worth reading twice, because it's the number most owners have never calculated for their own shop.
- SPM Trade Benchmark Reference, Sulphur Prairie Operations LLC, 2026. The reference holds 48 trades, each publishing a row of its own across all 7 revenue bands, and net profit in it is stated before taxes.
How these figures were built. Gross margin and overhead come from CFMA's 2024 and 2025 financial survey data, plus a January 2026 specialty trade study. Net profit comes from a 48 trade master dataset that covers 24 served trades and 24 adjacent trades. The reference holds 48 trades and every one of them publishes a row of its own. Where the survey and the master disagree on net profit, the master carries it. Benchmarks are reviewed against each new CFMA survey release and reconciled before publication.
Which bands are measured. The first 3 bands sit inside the range the published surveys report, and across all 48 trades gross margin there averages 22.1% against the 21.8% CFMA publishes for all respondents. The 4 bands above $10M–$25M carry the same curve further out, where the all trade average reaches 30.3%. Those 4 have not been reconciled against the licensed CFMA Benchmarker, so every export labels them as modeled and this page says so before you use them.
6 problems specific to interiors
You cut the deposit on doors, frames, and hardware in the spring so hollow metal frames can stand before the walls close, and the leaves and closers sit crated until finishes. Your crew is mobilized and can't legally cover the wall until MEP rough, blocking, sound batt, and head-of-wall firestopping pass, and the special inspector books elsewhere. Wallboard moves on an announced list increase with a hard effective date, your distributor quote holds about 30 days, and buyout is three months after you signed the contract. You start in month 10 to 14 of an 18 to 24 month build and install most of your contract in the last stretch, which is when the withheld retention balance is at its highest.
Each one below points at the item, the unit, the clock, or the party that makes it an interiors problem, and it says which step fixes it.
Interiors against the other 47 trades
| Metric | Interiors | Interiors and finishes average | All 48 average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 13% | 13.3% | 15.1% | 1st of 48 |
| Gross margin | 19% | 19.7% | 22.1% | 41st of 48 |
| Net profit | 6% | 6.3% | 7% | 38th of 48 |
Interiors sheds 5 points of overhead between $1M–$5M and $500M+, against 5.3 for interiors and finishes as a group. Inside that group, Acoustic ceiling, Tile and stone all keep 8%, the most in the group, and Acoustic ceiling, Drywall, Interiors and 1 more all run 13% overhead, the leanest. The leanest one is this trade.
Other interiors and finishes trades
What owners ask
What overhead should an interiors contractor run?
Interiors shares its overhead figure with 4 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 13% at $1M–$5M and 8% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.3 points below the interiors and finishes average of 13.3%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 12%. The CFOS target is one point leaner than your trade's average at your revenue.
What gross margin should an interiors contractor run?
Interiors shares its gross margin figure with 2 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 19% at $1M–$5M and 28% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.7 points below the interiors and finishes average of 19.7%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 22%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M. It's set at whatever gross margin produces the net profit target once overhead is paid, and never below your trade's own average.
What net profit should an interiors contractor run?
Interiors shares its net profit figure with 3 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 6% at $1M–$5M and 20% at $500M+, before taxes, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.3 points below the interiors and finishes average of 6.3%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 10%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M.
Does interiors get more profitable as it grows?
Overhead is the number that moves. Interiors sheds 5 points between $1M–$5M and $500M+, which is in line with the 5.3 points interiors and finishes sheds as a group. Net profit starts 1 points under the 48-trade average, so the room is in the overhead line before it's anywhere else.
Where does interiors sit against the other trades?
Interiors ties 1 trade in interiors and finishes on net profit, all at 6%. Acoustic ceiling, Tile and stone keep the most at 8%. Its overhead is the leanest too, level with Acoustic ceiling, Drywall and Painting. Gross margin ranks 41st of 48 and overhead ranks 1st.
Josh Luebker ran commercial construction projects before he ran the numbers behind them, on data centers, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. He wrote CONTROL: The Construction Financial Operating System, which is an 8 step framework for commercial subcontractors, and it publishes on October 1, 2026. He is a master electrician who moved into the office and kept the field vocabulary.
Sulphur Prairie Operations LLC maintains the benchmark reference behind these figures. Every edition is reconciled against the newest CFMA survey release before it publishes here. Where a figure changes between editions, the older edition keeps its year in the title so a citation to it stays correct.