2021 Striping Top Contractors

This year we can make the assumption that the Striping 75 contractors are not growing as fast due to increasing paint prices and the rising cost of business

De Gemmill Striping

Striping-only sales for the 2021 Striping 75 totaled $99,558,369 – a decline from the last three years ($204 million last year, $215 million in 2019 and $139 million in 2018). As this year's sales numbers show, this is a major step back for striping-only sales.

This year we can make assumptions that paint prices or cost of goods are rising along with the number of large contractors – specifically a number of large paving-focused contractors – joined the list this year and last year, the emphasis on striping among list members has lessened. Couple that with the turbulent economy, commercial customers might have held off getting their lots re-striped due to the downturn of in-person shopping or business traffic. 

Total Sales for the Striping 75

Total sales for all work done by the contractors making up the 2020 Striping 50 was $890,917,416  – down more than $645 million over last year’s $1.536 billion, which was up over $1.070 million in 2018.

This year striping-only sales represented 19% of total sales for the Striping 75, up from 13% last year, and down from 20% in 2018. Other revenue was generated as follows:

  • 63 companies sealcoat
  • 60 companies repair pavement
  • 57 companies pave

The revenue breakdown for Striping 75 is on par with previous years, meaning striping isn't always the number one segment a company completes jobs in. This shows that business are truly morphing to an all encompassing approach to business, offering multiple services to their customers to become a "one-stop shop".

Profit Margin 

Profit margins for the Striping 75 continue to shift slightly toward the low end, and just like last year the biggest changes were seen in the middle margin range,Sealcoating Profit Margins Graph particularly the 5-10% profit margin range.

  • Those reporting the greatest margins, more than 15%, dropped slightly to 48% from 49% last year
  • Contractors reporting margins in the 10-15% range dropped to 19% (22% last year)
  • 28% of the Striping 50 reported margins in the 5-10% range, up from 25% last year
  • Those reporting margins of 3-5% dropped to 1%
  • 4% of the Striping 50 reported margins of less than 3%, which is an increase over last year's 0%

Completed Work

All but two Striping 75 company's generates sales from parking lot work, with seven companies reporting 100% of sales from parking lots and another 20 companies reporting 90% or more from parking lots. Work on roads and streets generates sales for 49 companies, in addition 12 companies indicated they work on highways.

The Striping 75s’ Customers

  • 73 contractors work for commercial/industrial customers
  • 60 contractors work for multi-family residential customers
  • 56 contractors work for municipal clients
  • 36 contractors work for single-family homeowners

Replacing the Striping 75s’ Equipment

10 companies reported it would cost less than $500,000 to replace their equipment. Another nine reported it would cost $500,000-$1 million to replace their fleet; 23 companies said it would cost $1-$2 million; and 33 companies reported it would cost more than $2 million to replace their equipment.

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