Beyond the Build:

The 2026 Construction Profitability Report

Construction firms are hiring more people and winning more work, yet average revenue dropped $45,610 last year. Find out what the top 17% of high-growth firms are doing differently to protect their margins.

Based on a survey of 1,000 US construction decision-makers

93%

of construction leaders surveyed agree tech is the best defense against rising costs.

91%

say a single platform for projects and finances is the most effective way to boost profit.

$11k

lost every year to digital tools construction firms pay for but don't actually use.

Busy but breaking—and what to do about it

New Intuit QuickBooks research reveals a productivity paradox hitting small and mid-sized construction firms: headcounts are rising, project pipelines look full, but take-home profit is quietly shrinking. The culprit? A double tax of rising labor costs and disconnected technology that forces teams to manage by guesswork instead of real-time data.

This report benchmarks the digital strategies that separate the industry's fastest-growing firms from the rest, and gives you a practical roadmap to close the gap.

The numbers behind the squeeze

More people, more projects—and somehow, less money. The margin problem facing construction firms today isn't one thing, it's three things hitting at once. Revenue is down, labor is expensive, and materials keep moving. Costs are rising faster than project values, and for most firms, the gap is bigger than they realize.

–7%

Average annual revenue drop for small construction firms in 2025, a loss of $45,610 per business.

Source: Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index Annual Report 2026

+4.3%

How much construction pay rates have jumped, significantly outpacing the national average.

Source: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index Dec. 2025

+3.4%

Rise in material costs late last year, forcing owners to reprice work with no margin left to absorb the hit.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Indexes Feb. 2026

The high-growth difference

The difference between firms that are growing profitably and those treading water isn't about the quality of their work, it's about the quality of their information. The industry's fastest growers have made technology a core part of how they run their business, not an afterthought.

$85k

average annual spend on digital tools among high-growth firms, vs. $58K for everyone else.

61%

of high-growth firms have fully embraced integrated digital tools, vs. 28% of the total sample.

This report breaks down exactly where that investment goes, what it returns, and how firms of any size can start closing the gap.

Get the 2026 Construction Profitability Report

Get the data behind the industry's fastest-growing firms—free.

Inside the report:

Why firms adding headcount are still losing margin—and the math behind it
The $11,000 integration gap: how disconnected tools quietly drain your bottom line
The high-growth playbook: what the top 17% of firms spend on tech—and why it pays off
How 89% of construction leaders are using AI to move from hindsight to foresight
Your 2026 roadmap: how to run your jobs and your books from a single command center

Download the full report

Staying profitable in this environment isn't just about winning the next contract—it's about having real-time information to make sure that contract actually makes you money.

2026 Construction Profitability Report, Intuit QuickBooks

About this research

In July 2025, Intuit commissioned a survey of 1,000 accounting and operations decision makers in the US construction sector. The results reveal how they use digital technology, how integrated their digital systems are, and the top pain points for the industry.