- Home
- Statistics
- Pest control industry
Pest control industry statistics 2026
How many pest control companies there are in the US, what they take in, how many technicians they employ, what the work pays and how many American homes see rodents or cockroaches. Official numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau, HUD and BLS, each with its source and year.
Updated October 27, 2026 · NAICS 561710 (Exterminating and Pest Control Services) · SOC 37-2021 (Pest control workers)
Key numbers
- $19.90 billion
revenue of pest control companies with paid employees.
- 16,535
pest control company locations with paid employees.
- 108,700
jobs as pest control workers.
- $45,250
median annual pay for pest control workers.
- 15.7 million
households saw signs of mice or rats inside the home in the last 12 months.
Pest control companies in numbers
The Census Bureau counts exterminating and pest control services as one industry. The number of locations grew from 2022 to 2023, and more than half of them are small.
- 16,535
pest control company locations with paid employees, up from 16,080 in 2022 (+2.8%).
- 139,150
people worked at those companies in mid-March, compared with 139,917 a year earlier.
- $7.44 billion
in annual payroll at pest control companies.
- 9,415
of the 16,535 locations (56.9%) had fewer than 5 employees.
- $19.90 billion
revenue of pest control companies with paid employees, run by 13,928 firms with 16,402 locations.
- 16,137
pest control businesses without paid employees, with $867.2 million in receipts.
Pest control technician jobs and pay
Almost all pest control workers work for pest control companies. They usually learn on the job and need a state license to apply pesticides.
- 108,700
jobs as pest control workers.
- $45,250
median annual pay ($21.75 per hour). The lowest 10% earned less than $34,680, the highest 10% more than $61,890.
- 88%
of pest control workers work for exterminating and pest control services; 5% are self-employed.
- Pest control companies88%
- Self-employed5%
- $53,467
payroll per employee at pest control companies.
How many homes have pests
Rodents and cockroaches are common in American homes. The national housing survey asks every household whether it saw signs of them in the past year.
- 15.7 million
of 133.2 million occupied homes saw signs of mice or rats inside the home in the last 12 months (11.8%), and 15.7 million saw signs of cockroaches (11.8%).
The home survey numbers are estimates from samples; the Census Bureau publishes a margin of error with each.
Job outlook for pest control workers
BLS expects pest control jobs to grow faster than the average for all occupations over the next decade.
- 6%
projected growth from 2025 to 2035, from 108,700 to 114,700 jobs (+6,000), faster than the average for all occupations.
- 13,700
openings for pest control workers projected each year, on average, over the decade.
How customers find a local business
These numbers come from consumer surveys, not from official statistics. They describe local customers in general, including homeowners looking for a pest control company, and are labeled as surveys.
- 97%
of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
- 41%
of consumers “always” read reviews when browsing for businesses.
- 71%
is Google’s share as a review source, down from 83% in 2025.
- 45%
use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before.
- 47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more.
- 89%
expect business owners to respond to reviews; 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
- 54%
are most likely to visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews.
- 76%
of people who searched on a smartphone for something nearby visited a business within a day, and 28% of those searches led to a purchase.
The Google numbers are from 2016, so read them as a direction, not as today’s share.
How to cite this page
You are welcome to use these numbers in articles, reports and presentations. Please name the original agency, and link to this page as the place you found them.
StrideRank. “Pest Control Industry Statistics 2026.” Updated October 27, 2026. https://striderank.com/statistics/pest-control-industry<a href="https://striderank.com/statistics/pest-control-industry">Pest control industry statistics 2026</a> (StrideRank)Click a box to select it, then copy.
Sources and method
All sources accessed October 27, 2026. Each number above links to its source by number.
How we built this page
- Only official or primary sources: federal agencies and the original publisher of a survey.
- Numbers StrideRank worked out from a source, such as shares, changes and pay per employee, are labeled “StrideRank calculation”.
- Survey results are labeled as surveys, with the publisher and year.
Left out on purpose
- Market-size figures from paid research firms and trade groups, because their methods cannot be checked.
- Advertising spend, because the Economic Census does not publish it for service industries.
- Official data
U.S. Census Bureau2022 Economic Census, Administrative and Support Services: Selected Statistics for the U.S. (EC2256BASIC)
Revenue and firms for employer establishments. Table also on data.census.gov as ECNBASIC2022.EC2256BASIC.
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauCounty Business Patterns 2023 (U.S. file, establishments with paid employees)
Employment as of mid-March; establishments with paid employees only.
census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsOccupational Outlook Handbook: Pest Control Workers
SOC 37-2021. Pay data from Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025; projections 2025–35.
bls.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census Bureau / HUD2023 American Housing Survey, Table C-05-AO: Housing Quality—All Occupied Units (national)
Table Creator estimates as listed in the Census Bureau’s 2023 AHS table specifications file (sheet “Housing Quality”). Survey estimates with a 90% margin of error.
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauCounty Business Patterns 2022 (U.S. file)
www2.census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Official data
U.S. Census BureauNonemployer Statistics 2023 (businesses without paid employees)
census.gov(opens in a new tab) - Survey
BrightLocalLocal Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published February 11, 2026)
Industry survey: representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey.
brightlocal.com(opens in a new tab) - Survey
Google / Think with GoogleHow Mobile Search Connects Consumers to Stores (Purchased Digital Diary, May 2016)
Survey of 1,000 smartphone users, of them 634 local searchers. Older data, dated 2016.
thinkwithgoogle.com(opens in a new tab)
Common questions
How many pest control companies are there in the US?
In 2023 there were 16,535 pest control company locations with paid employees (County Business Patterns, NAICS 561710), plus 16,137 businesses without employees. 56.9% of the locations with employees had fewer than 5 employees.
How big is the pest control industry?
Pest control companies with paid employees had $19.90 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the 2022 Economic Census. They employed 139,150 people in 2023.
How much do pest control technicians make?
The median annual pay for pest control workers was $45,250 in May 2025, or $21.75 per hour, according to BLS.
How common are mice and cockroaches in US homes?
In the 2023 American Housing Survey, 15.7 million households (11.8%) saw signs of mice or rats inside the home in the last 12 months, and 15.7 million saw signs of cockroaches.
Can I use these statistics?
Yes. Every number links to its original source, so you can check it and cite the agency directly. If this page helped you, a link back to it as the place you found the numbers is appreciated.
More for your business
Now see how customers find your business.
Enter your website. The free audit shows how Google sees your site today — in under a minute, no account needed.
- No call needed
- No contract
- Cancel any time
StrideRank is not affiliated with Google. No ranking guarantees — nobody honest can give one.