October 2, 2024 -- Yelp -- the crowd-sourced business review publisher -- released its first-ever State of Services report, which reveals that the home services industry is the fastest-growing sector in 2024 and on track to set a new all-time high, outpacing overall business openings. The report analyzes home services business openings, changes in searches for home services categories, and the fastest-growing services brands to highlight the trends driving this growth.
Business categories that are experiencing growth in what Yelp sources said is a response to extreme temperatures include heating and air conditioning (up 10 percent) and snow removal services (up 36 percent). And as the world recovers from the hottest summer on record, states that suffered major heat waves this year, like California (863 business openings), Florida (860), Texas (719), and New York (373), saw the largest number of new HVAC businesses open. Arizona (202) made the top ten after Phoenix residents endured 100 days of 100 degrees.
Home services industry led in growth, being the only category to see growth (up 11 percent) in business openings over last year’s numbers, leading in total openings with 217,000.
Home services ranked as the top category for new
business openings in every U.S. state
States leading in largest total number of new home services openings:
California (26,000 openings), Florida (24,000 openings), and Texas (22,000 openings).
States with the highest home services growth: South Dakota (up 39 percent), Arkansas (up 35 percent), and Vermont (up 28 percent).
As high mortgage rates kept many from purchasing homes this year, renters chose to extend their leases instead of buying, investing in reversible home improvements to personalize their spaces.
Yelp users are increasingly searching for home services to help them upgrade their spaces, like home organization (up 362%), wallpapering (up 41%), home automation (up 27%), and furniture assembly (up 10%).
Service pros are meeting this demand with increases in business openings for these same categories: wallpapering (up 61%), furniture assembly (up 25%), home automation (up 23%), and home organization (up 18%), as well as several other home services.
Additionally, Yelp data shows a 108% increase in searches and a 12% rise in business openings for apartment agents. In contrast, real estate agents experienced a 23% decline in both searches and new openings during the same period.
Climate change drives demand for weatherproofing services
Home services categories with new business growth in response to busiest hurricane season: generator installation and repair (up 49%) and waterproofing services (up 19%)
Business categories with growth in response to extreme temperatures: snow removal services (up 36%) and heating & air conditioning/HVAC (up 10%)
As the world recovers from the hottest summer on record, states that suffered major heat waves this year, like California (863), Florida (860), Texas (719), and New York (373), saw the largest number of new HVAC businesses open. Notably, Arizona (202) made the top ten after Phoenix residents endured 100 days of 100 degrees.