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What is a home service or trade business worth? Limited data

No benchmark with quartiles is published for home service and trade businesses as one group. The types below have their own figures where they exist; where they don't, the calculator uses all service businesses: 1.75x to 3.13x SDE, median 2.38x. ^[1]

Last verified October 24, 2026

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What multiple do home service and trade businesses sell for?

Lower quartile

1.75x

Median

2.38x

Upper quartile

3.13x

Times seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). All service businesses, BizBuySell, sales 2021–2025; 5,839 sales.

Based on all service businesses: no published quartiles for this group.

SDE is the profit one owner takes out of the business: pre-tax profit plus one owner's pay and perks, interest, depreciation and one-time costs. How we calculate it.

Limited data. BizBuySell publishes no quartiles for this group as a whole. Treat these figures as provisional.

What is the market for home service and trade businesses like?

• Residential services M&A (PE scale): sector average 12.0x EV/EBITDA YTD 2026 vs 12.4x US M&A average; public comps median 12.0x EV/EBITDA, 2.5x EV/revenue. PE moving into adjacencies (exterior cleaning, tree care, pool, floor coatings) as HVAC/pest/landscaping roll-ups are crowded. ^[2]
• Recurring non-discretionary revenue, route density, technician recruiting systems and relationships that transfer beyond the founder raise value. ^[2]
• The PE roll-up premium is concentrated above ~$1–3M EBITDA; BizBuySell Main Street medians show little or none of it. ^{[3, 2]}

Which types of business does this cover?

Each type uses its own published quartiles where they exist; the rest use the broader category, and the table says which.

Low and high are the lower and upper quartiles: the middle half of sales. Figures are BizBuySell, businesses sold 2021–2025.

HVAC

Median 2.58x SDE; middle half 1.99x to 3.33x (562 sales). ^[5]

Raises value:

• Recurring preventive service under multi-year contracts is valued above project work. ^[4]
• Direct-to-owner work is less cyclical than GC bid work. ^[4]

Lowers value:

• Key-person or license-holder dependency lowers value. ^[4]

Market notes:

• Median sale price rose from $650,000 (2021) to $800,000 (2025). ^[5]
• H1 2026: 17 of 25 tracked deals PE-backed. ^[4]
• 92 HVAC deals YTD 2026 (−4.2% YoY); add-ons dominate; platform creations slowed (9 vs 10). ^[6]
• Champions Group (HVAC/plumbing/electrical, Blackstone) $2.5B at ~18.5x EBITDA – single PE deal. ^[2]
• YTD 2026 deal count HVAC/plumbing/electrical: 43. ^[2]

Value a hvac business

Plumbing

Median 2.24x SDE; middle half 1.66x to 3.15x (226 sales). ^[7]

Market notes:

• Asking (not sold) median SDE multiple 2.80. ^[7]

Value a plumbing business

Electrical & mechanical contracting

Median 2.56x SDE; middle half 1.96x to 3.15x (266 sales). ^[8]

Value a electrical & mechanical contracting business

Roofing

Based on the broader category (Building & construction): no published quartiles for roofing.

Raises value:

• Commercial reroof/service contracts are the highest-multiple mix. ^[9]

Lowers value:

• New construction and retail re-roof without recurring revenue are lowest. ^[9]
• >20% customer concentration from one GC/builder is a disqualifier. ^[9]
• FL/TX insurance-claim scrutiny is a risk. ^[9]

Market notes:

• Advisor or broker estimate (not used in the calculator): Sub-$500K SDE businesses: 2–4x SDE. Trade/advisor estimate, not transaction-confirmed. ^[9]
• Roofing and storm-dependent segments slowed (2026). ^[2]

Value a roofing business

Painting

Based on the broader category (Building & construction): no published quartiles for painting.

Value a painting business

Home inspection

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for home inspection.

Value a home inspection business

Handyman

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for handyman.

Value a handyman business

Septic services

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for septic services.

Value a septic services business

Restoration (water / fire)

Based on the broader category (Building & construction): no published quartiles for restoration (water / fire).

Market notes:

• YTD 2026 deal count restoration/remodeling: 10. ^[2]

Value a restoration (water / fire) business

Garage doors

Based on the broader category (Building & construction): no published quartiles for garage doors.

Market notes:

• Guild Garage Group (Oak Hill Capital) $800M at 2.7x revenue / 16.0x EBITDA – one PE deal, not a benchmark. ^[2]
• YTD 2026 deal count garage door & floors: 23. ^[2]

Value a garage doors business

Pool service & routes

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for pool service & routes.

Raises value:

• Route density, rate structure, pool/equipment condition. ^[10]

Market notes:

• Deals include ~3-month account guarantees and 10–20% holdbacks. ^[10]
• YTD 2026: 12 pool deals, 83% PE. ^[2]

Value a pool service & routes business

Landscaping & yard service

Median 2.3x SDE; middle half 1.7x to 3.01x (945 sales). ^[12]

Market notes:

• YTD 2026: 45 landscaping deals, 71% PE. ^[2]
• BrightView trades at 6.9x EV/EBITDA (public comp). ^[2]
• BRG 2024 (OLDER): landscapers under $1M net sales – median MVIC/net sales 0.60, MVIC/SDE 1.84, MVIC/EBITDA 2.29; sample and period not stated. ^[11]

Value a landscaping & yard service business

Cleaning & janitorial

Median 2.07x SDE; middle half 1.57x to 2.66x (797 sales). ^[13]

Value a cleaning & janitorial business

Window cleaning

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for window cleaning.

Market notes:

• PE is moving into exterior cleaning as an adjacency; YTD 2026 exterior services deal count 27. ^[2]

Value a window cleaning business

Pressure washing

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for pressure washing.

Market notes:

• PE is moving into exterior cleaning as an adjacency; YTD 2026 exterior services deal count 27. ^[2]

Value a pressure washing business

Pest control

Median 2.04x SDE; middle half 1.69x to 3x (sample size not published). ^[3]

Raises value:

• Recurring service agreements and retention drive value. ^[14]

Market notes:

• Several PE firms raised >$1B funds for pest acquisitions. ^[14]
• YTD 2026: 33 pest deals; Rollins trades at 19.0x EV/EBITDA vs residential-services comp median 12.0x; Rentokil 12.8x. ^[2]
• 77 deals in 2023; PE pest activity +18.8% YoY vs middle-market PE −20.7%. ^[15]
• Pest median SDE ($124,184) is below the service parent's ($155,559): smaller businesses. ^[3]

Value a pest control business

Locksmith

Based on the broader category (All service businesses): no published quartiles for locksmith.

Value a locksmith business

How should you use these numbers?

Multiply your SDE by a multiple in the range to get a rough price for the business, not counting real estate. Where you land in the range depends on how much the business depends on you, how much revenue repeats, growth, customer concentration and the other factors in the calculator. Half of all sales land outside the quartile range, so a real deal can go higher or lower.

Where do these numbers come from?