Landscaping and irrigation
Landscaping and irrigation sits 1st of 1 in landscape and irrigation on net profit, and carries heavier overhead than the 48-trade average. Here is every figure, across all 7 revenue bands.
Landscaping and irrigation by revenue band
| Metric | $1M–$5M | $5M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M–$50M | $50M–$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ | CFOS target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 15% | 14% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 14% |
| Gross margin | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 27% | 29% | 24% |
| Net profit | 7% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 15% | 17% | 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, and net profit in it is stated before taxes. It publishes here as 47 trade pages, because landscaping and irrigation share an identical benchmark profile and are one market, so they're presented together. Everything else carries its own row.
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 the site publishes 47 pages, because landscaping and irrigation carry the same figures and are the same market. 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.
10 problems specific to landscaping and irrigation
Every head is in the ground, the trenches are closed, and you can't pressurize a thing because the water purveyor hasn't set the meter yet. The pump station quotes in quarters and the vendor wants 30 to 50 percent at release, months before the job produces a single dollar of billing. Fifteen percent of your material goes under the pavement early and bills as three percent of a pay application, because the whole scope sits on one schedule of values line. A 3 to 4 inch caliper shade tree is 8 to 12 years in a field, so when the regional growers are short there's no rush fee that fixes it.
Each one below points at the item, the unit, the clock, or the party that makes it a landscaping and irrigation problem, and it says which step fixes it.
Landscaping and irrigation against the other 47 trades
| Metric | Landscaping and irrigation | Landscape and irrigation average | All 48 average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 15% | 15% | 15.1% | 17th of 48 |
| Gross margin | 22% | 22% | 22.1% | 20th of 48 |
| Net profit | 7% | 7% | 7% | 21st of 48 |
Landscaping and irrigation sheds 6 points of overhead between $1M–$5M and $500M+, against 6 for landscape and irrigation as a group. Inside that group, Landscaping and irrigation keeps the most at 7% and Landscaping and irrigation runs the leanest overhead at 15%. That's this trade.
Other landscape and irrigation trades
What owners ask
What overhead should a landscaping and irrigation contractor run?
Landscaping and irrigation shares its overhead figure with 13 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 15% at $1M–$5M and 9% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That's level with the landscape and irrigation average. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 14%. The CFOS target is one point leaner than your trade's average at your revenue.
What gross margin should a landscaping and irrigation contractor run?
Landscaping and irrigation shares its gross margin figure with 11 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 22% at $1M–$5M and 29% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That's level with the landscape and irrigation average. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 24%. 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 a landscaping and irrigation contractor run?
Landscaping and irrigation shares its net profit figure with 15 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 7% at $1M–$5M and 20% at $500M+, before taxes, as a percentage of revenue. That's level with the landscape and irrigation average. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 10%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M.
Does landscaping and irrigation get more profitable as it grows?
Overhead is the number that moves. Landscaping and irrigation sheds 6 points between $1M–$5M and $500M+, which is in line with the 6 points landscape and irrigation sheds as a group. Net profit starts 0.1 points under the 48-trade average, so the room is in the overhead line before it's anywhere else.
Where does landscaping and irrigation sit against the other trades?
Landscaping and irrigation is 1st of 1 in landscape and irrigation on net profit. It keeps the most in the group. It also runs the leanest overhead in the group. Gross margin ranks 17th of 48 and overhead ranks 21st.
Josh Luebker ran commercial construction projects before he ran the numbers behind them, on data centres, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. He wrote CONTROL: The Construction Financial Operating System, which is an eight-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.