Like many others, the metal construction industry faces an uncertain outlook for 2025 due to numerous factors, including the continually rising costs of materials, a declining skilled labor workforce, and the tariffs on trade partners such as Canada, Mexico, and China.
To check the pulse of the industry, we once again heard from those in the field through our 44th annual Contractor Survey. Some key takeaways from the data we collected include more moderate projections for the coming year and greater diversification in the types of sectors that metal builders are working on.
Overall, the total sales volume for completed and new construction projects was healthy but decreased from 2023. Last year, 25.6 percent of contractors sold $15 million or more, down 4 percent from 2023. Meanwhile, the number of contractors who sold less than $1 million was 27.1 percent, a nearly 12 percent jump from 2023. Additionally, the share of those who sold $7 million to $15 million was almost cut in half from 24.7 percent to 13.6 percent. These numbers may correlate with the size of the actual business and whether it is a stand-alone or subsidiary.
For total metal project sales specifically, 2024 saw the number of contractors that sold $10 million or more (30.1 percent) and those that sold under $1 million (35.7 percent) both jump considerably. Rounding out completed metal project sales, 17.9 percent of respondents sold $1 million to $3 million; 14.3 percent of respondents sold $3 million to $5 million; 1.8 percent sold $5 million to $7 million and $7 million to $9 million, respectively; and 3.6 percent brought their businesses $9 million to $10 million.
Where are contractors, and who are they?
While contractor companies are spread out across the United States, the South again produced the most contributors to our survey. Just over one-third of this year’s respondents are in the South region, with 35 percent reporting. This is slightly higher than last year’s Southern participants.
The Midwest, also steadily represented, has 28 percent of businesses reporting this year, a slight increase from the 25 percent reported in last year’s survey. The East and West regions traded places in representation this year. The East, which was third last year with 17 percent, dropped to 14 percent, while the West jumped from 15 percent in 2024 to 19 percent this year.
The makeup of types of contractors is generally similar to what was reported in last year’s survey. The majority
(29.9 percent) of respondents identified as general contractors; however, this year’s survey saw the most general contractors responding from the Midwest (47 percent), more than double the number from 2024. The number of general contractors from the West decreased by more than 19 percent to 23.1, while the East and South regions also saw considerable drops.
The next largest group is metal building contractors, at 14.9 percent nationally. Here, the South was most represented, with 30 percent. After that, 4.5 percent of respondents were metal erectors, while the roofing contractor, metal roofing contractor, and framing contractor titles represented 1.5 percent of those surveyed. The number of those answering “other” was 46.3 percent, a slight increase from 2023.
An overwhelming majority (94 percent) of companies are stand-alone businesses; subsidiaries comprise just 6 percent of survey respondents this year, a drop from nearly 11 percent last year. Regionally, all companies reporting from the East and South are stand-alone, followed by 90 percent from the Midwest and 85 percent from the West.
Most sectors saw increased activity in 2024
While contractors were involved throughout different sectors in 2024, the most common type of metal building system among respondents tends to be in the commercial space. While commercial was again the top sector for 2024, at 73.9 percent, it saw a noticeable decline from 2023 (83 percent). By region, the East was the highest at 85.7 percent, followed by the West at 77.8 percent, the South at 75 percent, and the Midwest at 64.3 percent. Other sectors that declined in activity in 2024 were cold storage at 13 percent (down 1.3 percent) and mini-storage buildings at 17.4 percent (down 1.6 percent).
Overall, seven of the 10 categories listed on the survey saw an increase in 2024. Agriculture at 43.5 percent, residential at 37 percent, and transportation at 34.8 percent all saw double-digit increases from the previous year. The other categories of government (32.6 percent), industrial (65.2 percent), institution (28.3 percent), and retail (26.1 percent) all saw slight declines over the previous year.
When it comes to metal roofing, activity in every sector either increased or stayed consistent, with commercial as the exception, with agriculture (32 percent), cold storage (12 percent), government (24 percent), institution (20 percent), mini-storage (16 percent), and retail (24 percent) all seeing respectable increases. Industrial (from 40 percent in 2023 to 72 percent in 2024) and transportation (from 11 percent in 2023 to 24 percent in 2024) showed the most significant improvement. Commercial dropped from 73.3 percent in 2023 to 68 percent this year, with residential buildings remaining stable at 40 percent.
For metal wall panel projects, every category saw an increase in activity in 2024, with transportation (35 percent, up 22 percent), agriculture (40 percent, up 20 percent), and industrial (70 percent, up 18 percent) showing the greatest increases in responses. Commercial buildings were again the leading answer, with 85 percent.
Construction insights from last year
Buildings
Most contractors worked primarily on metal building projects, including smaller to mid-sized projects. In 2024, 42 percent of contractors worked on projects less than 929 m² (10,000 sf), followed by 49 percent working in the 929 to 1,858 m² (10,000 to 20,000 sf) range, and more than half (56 percent) working on 1,858 to 4,645 m²
(20,000 to 50,000 sf) metal building projects. Buildings between 4,645 and 7,432 m² (50,000 to 80,000 sf) were up slightly at 29 percent. Lastly, larger-size metal projects of 7,432 m² (80,000 sf) or more saw a slight decline from 39 percent in 2023 to 36 percent in 2024.
Regionally, the West had the most projects in the largest, third-largest, and second-smallest categories. At the same time, the South and Midwest shared the lead in the second-largest category, and the East led the way in the smallest category.
Regarding the share of completed projects, the Midwest took the lead with 35.3 percent, followed by the South at 29.4, and the West and East tied at 17.7 percent.
In 2024, most firms completed five to nine projects (20.5 percent), followed by 10 to 14 (15.9 percent), 15 to 24 (13.6 percent), and more than 50 (12.5 percent). The number of respondents who didn’t complete any metal building projects more than doubled to 22.7 percent.
Roofing
For metal roofing projects, the Midwest led with 32 percent completed in 2024. Southern companies followed at 28 percent, and then 24 percent for those in the West. In the East, 16 percent of respondents completed a metal roof project.
Most firms completed five to nine or 25 to 49 roofing projects (both at 15.4 percent), followed by 10.3 percent of firms that completed two to four projects. Only 2.6 percent of respondents completed more than 50 projects in 2024, a drop from 12 percent in 2023.
Walls
In terms of completed metal wall panel projects, the Midwest had
37.5 percent completion, with the East region second at 25 percent. The West and South rounded things out with
18.8 percent each.
For metal wall panels, most contractors completed two to four projects (14.3), while 10.7 percent completed either five to nine or 10 to 14. The categories of one project, 25 to 49 projects, and more than 50 projects individually share 7.1 percent of respondents.
Light-gauge framing
In 2024, contractors also completed several light-gauge interior and exterior framing projects.
Of the light-gauge interior framing projects, nearly half (46.7 percent) were completed in the Midwest, 20 percent were in the West, and 13.3 percent were from the East and the South, respectively.
The Midwest led the way again, at 46.1 percent for light-gauge exterior framing projects, followed by the West at 23.1 percent, and the South and the East at 15.4 percent respectively.
Nearly half of all respondents (48.3 percent) and more than half (53.6 percent) did not complete light-gauge interior or exterior framing projects.
Forecasts for the coming year
This year, 11.6 percent of survey respondents project they will complete 50 or more metal projects, with 7 percent looking to complete 25 to 49 projects. However, most contractors predict they will complete between two and 24 metal projects. Namely, 20.9 percent aim to complete 10 to 14 projects, 16.3 percent target 15 to 24 projects, and 9.3 percent look at completing two to four or five to nine projects, respectively. Almost one-fifth (18.6 percent) do not project to complete any metal projects in 2025, up from 11.3 percent last year.
The majority of respondents, 68.4 percent, expect to complete at least one metal roofing project this year. Of those, 18.4 percent estimate 25 to 49 projects, 15.8 percent project two to four projects, and 13.2 expect between 10 and 14 projects. Only 5.3 percent of respondents project more than 50 metal roofing projects this year, a sharp drop from the 15.5 percent projection in last year’s survey.
About one-third of respondents do not expect to complete one metal wall panel project this year. However, more than half (55.6 percent) expect to complete between two and 24 projects, with the most represented projection between two and four. Eleven percent of respondents believe they will complete between 25 and more than 50 projects, down from 13.3 in the 2024 survey.
While there has been a bit of a “gloom and doom”’ narrative on some fronts over the past few months, contractors who responded to the survey are slightly less optimistic than one year ago but are not calling for significant drops in sales or output.
