Tile and stone
Tile and stone sits 1st 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.
Tile and stone by revenue band
| Metric | $1M–$5M | $5M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M–$50M | $50M–$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ | CFOS target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 14% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 8% | 13% |
| Gross margin | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 28% | 29% | 23% |
| Net profit | 8% | 10% | 12% | 14% | 16% | 19% | 21% | 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.
4 problems specific to tile and stone
One purchase order has to cover the entire floor, and it gets placed before the GC has a slab. Crew is mobilized, the container is on site, and the floor reads 3/16 in 10 feet. Bid 4,200 square feet, buy seven pallets, and the difference sits in the warehouse until somebody hauls it off. The GC compressed the schedule and wants more men on the floor, but the floor is set and waiting on grout.
Each one below points at the item, the unit, the clock, or the party that makes it a tile and stone problem, and it says which step fixes it.
Tile and stone against the other 47 trades
| Metric | Tile and stone | Interiors and finishes average | All 48 average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 14% | 13.3% | 15.1% | 6th of 48 |
| Gross margin | 22% | 19.7% | 22.1% | 20th of 48 |
| Net profit | 8% | 6.3% | 7% | 8th of 48 |
Tile and stone sheds 6 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 first of those is this trade.
Other interiors and finishes trades
What owners ask
What overhead should a tile and stone contractor run?
Tile and stone shares its overhead figure with 10 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 14% at $1M–$5M and 8% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.7 points above the interiors and finishes average of 13.3%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 13%. The CFOS target is one point leaner than your trade's average at your revenue.
What gross margin should a tile and stone contractor run?
Tile and stone shares its gross margin figure with 12 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 sits 2.3 points above the interiors and finishes average of 19.7%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 23%. 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 tile and stone contractor run?
Tile and stone shares its net profit figure with 12 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 8% at $1M–$5M and 21% at $500M+, before taxes, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 1.7 points above 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 tile and stone get more profitable as it grows?
Overhead is the number that moves. Tile and stone sheds 6 points between $1M–$5M and $500M+, which is in line with the 5.3 points interiors and finishes sheds as a group. Net profit is already above the 48-trade average, so the room is in holding it while revenue climbs.
Where does tile and stone sit against the other trades?
Tile and stone ties 1 trade in interiors and finishes on net profit, all at 8%. Nothing publishes more, and Acoustic ceiling matches it. Acoustic ceiling, Drywall, Interiors and 1 more run the leanest overhead at 13%. Gross margin ranks 20th of 48 and overhead ranks 6th.
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.