The Level Index, Trades Reputation
How do contractors actually rate? 110,040+ listings analyzed
Median star ratings, review volume distributions, and listing claim rates across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and landscaping. The median contractor has fewer reviews than you think, and the gap between median and top-10% is a first-call problem, not a price problem.
4.6★
Electrician median rating, highest of any trade
9
Median HVAC reviews, the p90 shop has 64
23%
HVAC contractors haven't claimed their listing
3.9★
Landscaping median, lowest of core trades
Why reputation is a gross profit lever
Your reviews determine whether the phone rings enough to keep your crew billable.
Level's own data shows the median contractor converts 73.9% of decided quotes. That number assumes someone decided to call in the first place. A bottom-quartile rating (3.0 stars for HVAC) means competitors with 4.5+ ratings get the call, and your crew sits idle. Gross profit per technician hour starts with dispatch volume.
73.9%
Median quote conversion on decided quotes
Level research, n=794
85.1%
Median collection rate across contractors
Level research, n=464
9 reviews
Median HVAC shop, p90 has 64+
Yelp directory, n=42,943
Reputation benchmarks by trade
Rating distributions (p25 / median / p75), review count quartiles, claim rates, and closure rates. All figures from 110,040+ listings, last updated 2026-08-06.
HVAC
n=42,943Star rating distribution
4
p25 reviews
9
Median reviews
23
p75 reviews
64
p90 reviews
77.2%
listing claimed
4.8%
permanently closed
The median HVAC contractor has just 9 Yelp reviews, and only 4 in the bottom quartile. A top-10% shop has 64+. That gap is a first-call problem before a price comparison ever happens. 77.2% have claimed their listing, so roughly 22.8% are leaving the simplest trust signal they have on the table.
Plumbing
n=11,748Star rating distribution
3
p25 reviews
7
Median reviews
16
p75 reviews
41
p90 reviews
68.7%
listing claimed
4.8%
permanently closed
Plumbing rates a 4.2-star median across 11,748 listings, with review volume topping out at 41 for the p90 shop. A 3.1-star plumber is effectively invisible next to competitors clearing 4.9 stars. Only 68.7% have claimed their listing, the lowest managed-presence rate alongside landscaping.
Roofing
n=22,796Star rating distribution
3
p25 reviews
6
Median reviews
12
p75 reviews
29
p90 reviews
77.9%
listing claimed
4.3%
permanently closed
Roofing has one of the thinnest review bases: median just 6 reviews, p90 at 29. High-ticket, low-frequency work means fewer touchpoints to collect reviews, which makes every review disproportionately valuable. Its claim rate leads the trades at 77.9%.
Electricians
n=12,534Star rating distribution
3
p25 reviews
6
Median reviews
14
p75 reviews
39
p90 reviews
74.5%
listing claimed
3.8%
permanently closed
Electricians rate highest of any trade, a 4.6-star median versus 4 for HVAC and 4.2 for plumbing. The p25 floor is 3.7, so even the bottom quartile sits above where most trades land. Electrical work is more pass/fail (code-compliant or not), which may drive higher service consistency and fewer callback-driven bad reviews.
Landscaping
n=20,019Star rating distribution
3
p25 reviews
6
Median reviews
12
p75 reviews
28
p90 reviews
67.5%
listing claimed
4.7%
permanently closed
Landscaping has the lowest ratings and among the lowest claim rates of the core trades: 3.9-star median, p25 at 3, and only 67.5% claimed. Recurring service creates more friction and complaint opportunities than project-based trades. This is the trade where a deliberate reputation strategy creates the most differentiation.
Most competitive contractor markets
Metros ranked by total contractor listings, pooled across all trades. More listings = more competition for the same first call. Note the rating gap: LA (4.34) vs Houston (3.67), a spread wide enough that competitive culture, not just trade mix, is in play.
| # | City | State | Listings | Avg rating | Median reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | CA | 1,102 | 4.34★ | 15 |
| 2 | Houston | TX | 898 | 3.67★ | 6 |
| 3 | San Diego | CA | 833 | 4.30★ | 16 |
| 4 | Phoenix | AZ | 782 | 3.92★ | 10 |
| 5 | Las Vegas | NV | 752 | 3.95★ | 18 |
| 6 | Austin | TX | 736 | 4.00★ | 12 |
| 7 | San Jose | CA | 712 | 4.29★ | 21 |
| 8 | Chicago | IL | 627 | 3.91★ | 11 |
| 9 | San Antonio | TX | 608 | 3.81★ | 6 |
| 10 | Denver | CO | 479 | 3.66★ | 8 |
| 11 | Tucson | AZ | 471 | 3.79★ | 9 |
| 12 | Sacramento | CA | 456 | 4.06★ | 15 |
| 13 | Mesa | AZ | 424 | 4.01★ | 11 |
| 14 | San Francisco | CA | 412 | 4.40★ | 16 |
| 15 | Dallas | TX | 398 | 3.63★ | 7 |
| 16 | Miami | FL | 390 | 3.66★ | 6 |
| 17 | Colorado Springs | CO | 378 | 3.65★ | 7 |
| 18 | Seattle | WA | 377 | 4.11★ | 13 |
| 19 | Portland | OR | 373 | 3.88★ | 13 |
| 20 | Jacksonville | FL | 368 | 3.40★ | 6 |
| 21 | Tampa | FL | 355 | 3.40★ | 7 |
| 22 | Brooklyn | NY | 353 | 3.79★ | 7 |
Source: Yelp business listings, ~110,000 U.S. trades contractor locations, scraped April 2026. Tier B, directory data, not a primary financial dataset. Aggregates only; no individual business is identified.
Check your own numbers
Your reviews tell prospects what to expect. Your books tell you what you're actually earning.
Public benchmarks show where the median contractor stands. Your own numbers show whether your crew is producing gross profit per hour at the top of the range or leaking margin somewhere between dispatch and invoice. The Level team will show you where the gap is.
In the free audit, we check:
- •gross profit per technician hour vs. the peer range
- •quote conversion rate and what's holding it back
- •collection gap, cash you've already earned but haven't collected
We use this to prepare your audit before the call. Your numbers stay private.
Methodology & data sources
How we built this, and how to reproduce it
The source data
Yelp business listings, ~110,000 U.S. trades contractor locations, scraped April 2026. Tier B, directory data, not a primary financial dataset. Aggregates only; no individual business is identified. Tier B confidence, a commercial directory dataset useful for aggregate market comparisons, not a primary financial dataset. Ratings and reviews reflect consumer sentiment, not audited financials.
How we aggregated it
Every listing was scanned once and assigned to a single primary trade to avoid double counting. Distributions (p25/median/p75/p90) are exact quantiles over the full population, not a sample. Closed businesses stay in the counts so the closure rate can be reported. No imputation, no weighting, no adjustment.
Why quartiles, not averages
A median of 9 reviews with a p90 of 64 tells you more than a bare "average." Averages are pulled up by a small number of dominant shops. Quartiles show where you actually stand in the distribution, and where the visibility threshold is.
Level proprietary data, separate source
Quote conversion (73.9%), collection rate (85.1%), and gross profit per technician hour come from Level's own analysis of 2,200+ contractors representing $13.25B in job revenue. Completely separate from the Yelp directory data, never conflated.
How we arrived at each conclusion
"Electricians rate highest of any trade (4.6★ median)."
The median overall_rating across the 12,534 listings mapped to Electricians. Cross-checked against the mean (4.19). The p25 floor of 3.7 confirms the finding is not driven by outliers.
"The median HVAC contractor has 9 reviews."
The median reviews_count across the 42,943 HVAC listings. The p90 value of 64 was computed the same way. The gap between median and p90 is arithmetic, not an estimate.
"23% of HVAC contractors haven't claimed their listing."
1 - (claimed / total) on the HVAC subset. The is_claimed field is a boolean set when a business owner takes control of their listing.
"Los Angeles has the densest contractor market (1,102 listings)."
A count of listings grouped by city and state across all trades. The rating gap between LA (4.34) and Houston (3.67) is a direct average, not adjusted for trade mix or listing age.
Raw data, free to cite
The Level Index dataset
All figures ship with their definition, sample size, and source. Free to cite with attribution to the Level Index.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Yelp rating for HVAC contractors?
The median HVAC contractor has a 4.0-star rating across 42,943 listings analyzed. The average (mean) is 3.74. The bottom quartile sits at 3.0 stars; the top quartile reaches 4.8. Source: Yelp business listings, ~110,000 U.S. trades contractor locations, scraped April 2026.
How many Yelp reviews does the typical contractor have?
The median HVAC contractor has 9 reviews. Plumbing and electricians sit at a median of 6 to 7, roofing and landscaping at 6. The top 10% of HVAC shops reach 64 reviews, versus a median of 9. Most businesses are concentrated in the low-review tail.
Which contractor trade has the best Yelp ratings?
Electricians rate highest of any trade: 4.6-star median, 4.19 average, with even the bottom quartile at 3.7 stars. HVAC and roofing both have a 4.0 median and plumbing a 4.2 median. Landscaping has the lowest median at 3.9 stars and the lowest claim rate at 67.5%.
What does my Yelp rating have to do with my gross profit?
Your reviews determine whether the phone rings. Level's own data shows median quote conversion is 73.9% on decided quotes, but that assumes someone decided to call you first. A contractor in the bottom rating quartile faces a first-call problem before a price comparison ever happens. More billable hours from the same crew is the definition of better gross profit per technician hour.
What percentage of contractors have claimed their Yelp listing?
Between 67.5% (landscaping) and 77.9% (roofing) have claimed their listing depending on trade. Roofing leads, with HVAC just behind at 77.2%. Claiming is free and takes minutes, yet between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 contractors in every trade hasn't done it.
Where does this data come from?
Yelp business listings, approximately 110,000 U.S. trades contractor locations, scraped April 2026. This is Tier B confidence, a commercial directory dataset, not a primary financial dataset. Aggregate distributions only; no individual business is identified. Level's proprietary contractor financial benchmarks (collection rate, quote conversion, gross profit per technician hour) are sourced separately from Level's own analysis of 2,200+ contractors representing $13.25B in job revenue.
Related benchmarks
Contractor Financial Benchmarks
Job margins, collection rates, billing speed, and quote conversion from Level's proprietary research.
See the benchmark →Labor Productivity
Hours vs budget, job-level margin, and labor share of revenue. Where your crew's hours go.
See the benchmark →Quote Conversion
Winning quotes close in 2 days; losers linger 29. 73.9% median conversion on decided quotes.
See the benchmark →Simple pricing
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