Who Are NAHB’s Builder Members?

The majority of NAHB Builder members are small businesses, according to NAHB’s annual member census.

The census shows that, on average, NAHB builders started 59.2 homes in 2023 (37.3 single family and 21.9 multifamily). However, the median number of homes started was only six, because the data include a small percentage of very large builders.

Builder members — many of whom carry relatively few employees on their payrolls and utilize subcontractors — reported a median of six employees, including employees in both construction and non-construction jobs.

NAHB initiated the current version of its member census during the industry-wide downturn of 2008, when the median annual revenue of builder members was only around $1 million. Median annual revenue began rising in 2013, as the industry slowly recovered, plateauing at $2.6 million to $2.7 million from 2017 through 2020, before jumping to $3.3 million in 2021 and 2022 and then edging up by another $0.1 million in 2023.

For comparison, the Small Business Administration’s size standards classify residential builders and remodelers as small if they have average annual receipts of $45 million or less ($34 million or less for land developers).

Paul Emrath, NAHB vice president for survey and housing policy research, provides more details in this Eye on Housing post.