Like many other industries, metal construction continues to face an uncertain outlook for 2026 due to numerous factors, including rising material costs, a declining skilled labor workforce, and the ever-evolving role of tariffs on trade partners.
To check the pulse of the industry, Metal Construction News once again heard from those in the field through our 45th annual Contractor Survey. Some key takeaways from the data we collected include lower sales and metal builders generally working on fewer projects.
However, overall, the total sales volume for completed and new construction projects appears to be moving upward. Last year, 30.2 percent of contractors sold $15 million or more, up almost 5 percent from 2024. Meanwhile, the number of contractors who sold for less than $1 million was 20.9 percent, down 6 percent from 2024. Additionally, the share of those who sold $7 million to $15 million jumped to 17.4 percent from 13.7 percent the previous year.
For total metal project sales specifically, 2025 saw the number of contractors that sold $10 million or more (18.1 percent) drop by 12 percent, and those that sold under $1 million (31.3 percent) fall by 4.4 percent. Rounding out completed metal project sales, 18.1 percent of respondents sold $1 million to $3 million; 14.5 percent of respondents sold $3 million to $5 million; 6 percent sold $5 million to $7 million; 9.6 percent sold $7 million to $9 million; and 2.4 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, although the share was reduced. Thirty percent of this year’s respondents are in the South, a drop from 35 percent last year.
The Midwest, also steadily represented, has 27 percent of businesses reporting this year, a slight decrease from the 28 percent reported in last year’s survey. The East and West regions traded places in representation this year. The West region jumped to 22 percent from 19 percent last year, while the East also increased its share from
17 percent in 2024 to 21 percent in 2025.
The makeup of contractor types changed significantly this year. The majority (41.3 percent) of respondents identified as general contractors, up from 29.9 percent in 2025. This year’s survey saw the greatest concentration of general contractors in the East. The number of general contractors in the other three regions was also up considerably.
The next largest group is metal building contractors, at 16.3 percent nationwide. Here, the East was most represented, with 27.8 percent. After that, 4.5 percent of respondents were metal erectors, while the roofing contractor, metal roofing contractor, and metal erector titles represented 3.3 percent of those surveyed. The number of those answering “other” was 32.6, down nearly 11 percent from 2024.
An overwhelming majority (91 percent) of companies are stand-alone businesses; subsidiaries comprise just 9 percent of survey respondents this year, up from 6 percent in 2024. Regionally, 95 percent of companies in the West are standalone, 92 percent in the South, 89.5 percent in the East, and 88 percent in the Midwest.
Most sectors saw less activity in 2025
While contractors were involved across sectors in 2025, the most common type of metal building system among our respondents was in the commercial space at 81.3 percent, up about 7 percent from 2024. By region, the East was the highest at 92.3 percent, followed by the Midwest at 81.3 percent, the South at 81 percent, and the West at 76.9 percent.
Overall, only four of the 10 categories listed in the survey saw increases in 2024. In addition to commercial, cold storage increased to 15.6 percent from 13 percent in 2024, government grew from 32.6 percent in 2024 to 34.4 percent, and mini-storage went from 17.4 percent in 2024 to 23.4 percent in 2025.
All other sectors saw declining shares in 2025. Agriculture (down from 43.5 to 32.8) and transportation (down from 34.8 to 25) saw the most significant drops. The other declining sectors were industrial (65.2 to 64.1), institutional (28.1 to 25), residential (26.1 to 25), and retail (37 to 32.8).
When it comes to metal roofing, every sector saw declines, except government, which grew from 24 percent in 2024 to 32.6 percent last year. Residential saw the biggest drop, going from 40 percent in 2024 to 23.3 percent in 2025. Agriculture (32.6 percent), cold storage (14 percent), commercial (65.1 percent), industrial (60.1 percent), institutional (16.3 percent), mini-storage (14 percent), retail (23.3 percent), and transportation (20.9 percent) all saw decreased activity in 2025.
For metal wall panel projects, it was much of the same, as every category saw a drop from 2024. Transportation saw the biggest decline, from 35 percent in 2024 to 10.3 percent in 2025, followed by commercial, which dropped from 69 percent in 2024 to 53 percent in 2025, a 16 percent tumble, and residential, at 13.8 percent last year, down from 25 percent in 2024. The shares for other sectors were agriculture (27.6 percent), cold storage (13.8 percent), government (20.7 percent), industrial (62.1 percent), institutional (13.8 percent), mini-storage (13.8 percent), and retail (20.7 percent).
Construction insights from last year
Buildings
Most contractors worked mostly on metal building projects, including smaller to mid-sized projects. In 2025, 57.1 percent of contractors worked on projects less than 929 m² (10,000 sf), followed by 69.8 percent working in the 929 to 1,858 m² (10,000 to 20,000 sf) range, and more than half (54 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 34.9 percent. Lastly, larger-size metal projects of 7,432 m² (80,000 sf) or more saw a decline from 36 percent in 2024 to 28.6 percent in 2025.
Regionally, the West had the most in the largest category, the Midwest in the second-largest, the South in the third-largest, and the East in the second-smallest and smallest categories.
Regarding the share of completed projects, the South led the way with 31.1 percent, followed by the Midwest and West at 24.6 percent and the East at 19.7 percent. Notably, the Midwest led last year with 35.7 percent.
In 2024, most firms completed 15 to 24 projects (19.7 percent), while two to four and 25 to 49 were at 16.4 percent, respectively, and 10 to 14 projects (13.1 percent). This was followed by 5 to 9 (9.8 percent), more than 50 projects (8.2 percent), and one single project (3.3 percent). The number of respondents who did not complete any metal building projects was down 20 percent to 13.1 percent.
Roofing
For metal roofing projects, the South led with 32.8 percent completed in 2025. East and West companies followed at 24.1 percent, and the Midwest at 19 percent.
In 2025, most firms completed two to four projects (23.7 percent), while five to nine and 10 to 14 were at 11.9 percent, respectively, and one project (10.2 percent). This was followed by 15 to 24 and more than 50 projects, each at 3.4 percent and 25 to 49 at 1.7 percent. The number of respondents who did not complete any metal building projects was up 11 percent to 33.9 percent.
Walls
Among 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 (20.8 percent), while 14.6 percent completed 10 to 14. The categories of one project and five to nine projects had 6.3 percent, while 25 to 49 and more than 50 were 4.2 percent, respectively.
Light-gauge framing
In 2025, contractors also completed several light-gauge framing projects, both interior and exterior.
Of the light-gauge interior framing projects, 38.5 percent were completed in the South, 30.8 percent were in the East, 18 percent in the West, and 12.8 percent in the Midwest. The figures were the same for light-gauge exterior framing projects.
Sixty-eight percent of responders did not complete an interior light-gauge framing project, and 58.5 percent did not complete an exterior project.
Forecasts for the coming year
This year, 8.2 percent of survey respondents project they will complete 50 or more metal building projects, with 16.4 percent looking to complete 25 to 49 projects. However, most contractors predict they will complete between two and 24 metal projects. Namely, 19.7 percent aim to complete 15 to 24 projects, 13.1 percent target 10 to 14 projects, and 9.8 percent project to complete five to nine projects. Around 13 percent do not project to complete any metal projects in 2025, down from 19 percent last year.
The majority of respondents, 67.3 percent, expect to complete at least one metal roofing project this year. Of those, 29.1 percent estimate two to four projects, 10.9 percent estimate five to nine projects, and 7.3 percent estimate 25 to 49 projects. Additionally, 7.3 percent expect to complete more than 50 projects, a jump from 5.6 percent in 2024.
About 40 percent of respondents do not expect to complete one metal wall panel project this year. However, more than half (54.2 percent) expect to complete between two and 49 projects, with the most represented projection between two and four. Only 6.3 percent of respondents believe they will complete between 25 and more than 50 projects, down from 11.9 percent in the 2024 survey.
While the data points to a less active 2025 in some metrics, contractor confidence has not taken a nosedive; instead, it has shown a gradual decline in 2026. Many experts have predicted the actual impacts of tariffs would not be seen for one year, so the next 10 months will be interesting in terms of what is on the horizon.
