Tunnel
Tunnel sits 6th of 11 in civil and earthwork on net profit, and carries heavier overhead than the 48-trade average. Here is every figure, across all 7 revenue bands.
Tunnel by revenue band
| Metric | $1M–$5M | $5M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M–$50M | $50M–$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ | CFOS target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 16% | 15% | 14% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 15% |
| Gross margin | 23% | 24% | 25% | 26% | 28% | 29% | 31% | 25% |
| Net profit | 7% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 16% | 18% | 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, 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.
6 problems specific to tunnel
You wired a deposit for casing cut to one crossing, and the first pay app on that drive is still two months out. You pay two grand just to apply and buy a five million dollar railroad policy for every crossing, and then you pay the railroad's flagger to watch you work. You priced a hundred dollars a foot of casing, then the mill quoted by the ton at a wall thickness the engineer moved during review. Six crossings means six setups and six teardowns, and the contract has a single capped mobilization item to cover all of it.
Each one below points at the item, the unit, the clock, or the party that makes it a tunnel problem, and it says which step fixes it.
Tunnel against the other 47 trades
| Metric | Tunnel | Civil and earthwork average | All 48 average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 16% | 15% | 15.1% | 31st of 48 |
| Gross margin | 23% | 20.7% | 22.1% | 13th of 48 |
| Net profit | 7% | 5.7% | 7% | 21st of 48 |
Tunnel sheds 6 points of overhead between $1M–$5M and $500M+, against 6.2 for civil and earthwork as a group. Inside that group, SWPPP and erosion control keeps the most at 10% and Civil runs the leanest overhead at 14%. Tunnel is neither, which is the usual position and the one with the most room in it.
Other civil and earthwork trades
What owners ask
What overhead should a tunnel contractor run?
Tunnel shares its overhead figure with 12 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 16% at $1M–$5M and 10% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 1 point above the civil and earthwork average of 15%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 15%. The CFOS target is one point leaner than your trade's average at your revenue.
What gross margin should a tunnel contractor run?
Tunnel shares its gross margin figure with 6 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 23% at $1M–$5M and 31% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 2.3 points above the civil and earthwork average of 20.7%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 25%. 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 tunnel contractor run?
Tunnel 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 21% at $500M+, before taxes, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 1.3 points above the civil and earthwork average of 5.7%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 10%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M.
Does tunnel get more profitable as it grows?
Overhead is the number that moves. Tunnel sheds 6 points between $1M–$5M and $500M+, which is in line with the 6.2 points civil and earthwork 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 tunnel sit against the other trades?
Tunnel is 6th of 11 in civil and earthwork on net profit. SWPPP and erosion control keeps the most at 10%. Civil runs the leanest overhead at 14%. Gross margin ranks 31st 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.